Mozambique: Juma Aiuba, the brilliant chronicler who left us too soon

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Mozambique: Juma Aiuba, the brilliant chronicler who left us too soon

5:04 CAT | 26 Feb 2021

Image: O País

Juma Aiuba, the journalist known for his unique writing style and shrewd sense of humour, laying bare the dilemmas of political and social life in Mozambique, has died at the age of 40.

“Co’licença!” is how Juma Aiuba ended his brilliant columns, which seldom exceeded 3,000 characters. He wrote ‘little’, but said a lot. He spoke on various subjects, the last, Professor Hélder Martins’ resignation letter, a column published in ‘Carta’ just two days before his death.

His column earned such credibility and exposure that it had exclusive sponsorship from a large national company.

Juma Aiuba was from Zambézia, but settled in Nampula and there started his professional life. He worked for international non-governmental organisations and was recognised for the frankness with which he defended his principles.

At dawn on the 24th of this month he left for the hereafter, at home in the city of Nampula, to the perplexity of many.

“He was having medical follow-up since, for the first time, he had felt pain in his right leg – pain that we all thought would soon pass. Later, the leg started swelling – just that. Clinical examinations revealed nothing,” brother Mamudo Aiuba said.

Death is certain, death is natural. But when it happens abruptly, it creates a double shock.

Friends and colleagues remember the life of a journalist with outstanding writing skills, supported by a profuse, almost out-of-this-world inspiration.

Rosa Inguana, herself a four-decade journalism veteran, has several cherished memories.

“He was a friend of ours at the National Union of Journalists here in Nampula and made many contributions, including lectures and training. We used his services often. He had a degree in journalism, but mainly had had a lot of training on the job,” she said.

He worked in silence, with a snake’s skill. What he wrote could only come into existence in the quiet of dawn – the time for the dedicated. And at dawn, there was his work of art, invading phones and offices, generating reflection with a bit of demolishing satire and plenty of humour in the mix.

Academician António Muagerene worked with Aiuba in many consultancies and became his firm friend.

“Juma departs after creating a niche in Mozambican society for his readers, especially because he had this talent. Unlike event reporting, he was an interventional journalist, with a captivating ability that was characteristic of a diarist of his magnitude,” he reports.

His funeral was held in Nampula on Thursday, with Quelimane mayor Manuel de Araújo in attendance.

“In his always critical spirit, of wanting to contribute to this country, he advised us on some aspects of governance, on our posture,” Manuel de Araújo said. “It is with this image that I am left: that of a young man, a young man who believed that it was possible to live in a democratic country; he fought for that and that is the legacy he leaves.”

Juma Aiuba died at the age of 40. He leaves a widow and five children.

By Ricardo Machava

Source: O País