Over 5,000 music cassettes recorded at Mbwana Radio Service (MRS) in Mombasa-Kibokoni are temporarily stored in sports bags and are waiting to be preserved. The custodian Nassoro Mwinyi saved the endangered collection after the death of the MRS owner in 2022. He has digitised 80 cassettes so far, starting with the work after an initial fundraiser in May 2023.

Santuri East Africa and Nassoro Mwinyi set out to, firstly, connect the coastal music heritage to new audiences. In November 2023, Karrl Omuom started to make a small documentary about MRS, the artists, and their music.  

An introduction to the project by Nassoro Mwinyi and a pre-screening of the documentary took place in February 2024 at Santuri’s Kilele Symposium. It was followed by Khonjo Kolio from Kijiwetanga, Malindi performing their famous zaire style, which despite its reference to the Congo, was co-created by Khonjo Kolio and has emerged from among the northern Giriama community.

The process of digitising involves a lot more than setting up the tape recorder, and the software. Listening, note-taking and gathering information are essential steps. Saving the digital files with as much meta-data as possible is a challenge. Some of the difficult but important questions are: When exactly was this cassette recorded? Who was the composer? Was this a song or dance popularly known within a wider community? Who sang and played which instruments on the day of the recording? Who was usually in the band? Who owns the music?  

The project and promotion of this rich cultural heritage continues.

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