David Mzuguno started painting in 1967 and became known in 1969 at age eighteen, by wining the third prize in the Esso Calendar Competition. Originally from the Kilimandjaro region, Pare district, and of Mpare Tribe, he was born in 1951 in the village of Gonja Bombo (at the junction with Mkomasi on the old Moshi road), where he also attended primary school at the Luteran Mission. In 1967 Mzuguno arrives in Dar-es-Salaam and, two years later goes to live with his uncle in Msasani, nearby the Morogoro Stores. While attending secondary school (with art subjects) and passing by the Tingatinga painters, he used to make fun of them because of their non-realistic style.