• In 1985, he recorded ‘Apartheid is Nazism’, a call for the end of apartheid in South Africa.
• Says he received a lot of love in Kenya.
Reggae legend Alpha Blondy performed at the 27th Edition of Koroga Festival at the weekend alongside Kenyan stars Sailors, Decimators, Zzero Sufuri, Redsan and Wyre.
Before the concert, he held a press conference on Friday, where he spoke out against the xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
“It is a lot of shame. I will not condemn all South Africans, because that’s not fair, but watching those videos was painful,” he said.
“If you don’t have love for yourself, you can’t have love for your neighbour. That person then puts the hatred against the mirror of himself which is his fellow African brother. We hope that those things will never happen again.”
In 1985, Blondy recorded ‘Apartheid is Nazism’, a call for the end of apartheid in South Africa.
“My mission is to give hope to people and its a great honour to be called ‘The Bob Marley of Africa’ because I am a great fan, but I am Alpha Blondy,” he said.
The artist said he was overwhelmed by the love he had received in Kenya. “I have been longing to come to Kenya and perform in the land of Jomo Kenyatta. It feels good to be back in this beautiful country in the motherland.”
Christine Mwaura, marketing manager of Tusker Trademark, said she was happy to work with the artist.
“We are honoured to get a chance to contribute to the growth of arts and culture in our country through our sponsorship of the 27th Edition of Koroga Festival and look forward to all the performances by local and international artists,” she said.
“We hope that even as our customers enjoy the music our local talent will exchange contacts with the international acts and get a chance to export our music to their countries as well,”
Blondy said he looked forward to working with Kenyan artistes.