The man of the laughter that pays no tax has left us – Mozambique

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The man of the laughter that pays no tax has left us – Mozambique

1:41 CAT | 22 Apr 2020

Photo: O País

Mozambican comedian Chaguatika Nzero passed away at Maputo Central Hospital on Tuesday morning, victim of a long illness.

An important voice of Mozambican comedy, Nelson Coutinho de Sousa lost his life to a disease that had afflicted him for about five years, and had put an end to his comedic career.

Those who worked with Nzero remember him as a distinct and irreverent person. Take Luísa Menezes, who worked with him in Chimoio in the late 1980s, after they met in Tete.

“He was never satisfied with anything,” he says. “He always wanted to do more and better, with that irreverence that sometimes hurt some people who didn’t take his jokes well. I think it was that irreverent trait that kept him in comedy for so many years.”

After working together in Chimoio, Nzero and Menezes worked on two comedy projects with the same title, entitled ‘A Viagem do Riso’ [The Laughter Journey’], recorded on cassette tape, at the time.

It was around that time that the comedian also met radio presenter Izidine Faquirá, for whom his death is a reason to remember Mozambican comedy’s highest moments on Radio Mozambique.

“I met him after The Journey of Laughter. We invite him to work on the daily On the Spot/’Em Cima da Hora’ programme, and his versatility was fantastic.”

In his comedy projects, Nzero addressed topics that touched people, becoming popular with the programme ‘Laughter Pays No Taxes’. Búfalo, who worked with him on this project, calls Nzero “one of the great masters of comedy and culture in Mozambique. He has fought great battles on behalf of culture and leaves a hole difficult which will be difficult to fill”.

In addition to comedy, Nzero’s other passion was music. He even recorded an album entitled ‘Haja Amor’ (1994) with Célio Figueiredo, who says: “We had a friendship for which I am very grateful. I learned a lot from him and it gave me a lot of strength in the moments that I thought I would fail. Much can be done to ensure that his work is not forgotten. It is up to us to continue to publicise his works”.

Nelson Coutinho de Sousa, son of Alberto and Ana de Sousa, was born on January 21, 1961, in Ribaué, Nampula province, and loses his life at 59 years of age. His funeral will take place at the Lhanguene Cemetery in Maputo at 10:00 a.m. on Friday.

By José dos Remédios

Source: O País