PRINCE PAULO JOB KAFEERO- Farewell Musician, Husband and Father

May 24, 2007

SHOCKED. Depressed. Saddened. Empty. These are four of the many feelings that every music-loving Ugandan felt when Kadongo Kamu superstar Paul Kafeero died last week. <br>

By Joseph Batte

SHOCKED. Depressed. Saddened. Empty. These are four of the many feelings that every music-loving Ugandan felt when Kadongo Kamu superstar Paul Kafeero died last week.

Groans have been echoed across the country for the death of this awesomely talented singer. He was, to the entertainment scene, what the late Brig Noble Mayombo was to the civil service.

Mammoth crowds turned up to pay their last respects and bid goodbye to a singer who brought smiles on their faces every time he stepped onto the stage.

Personally, I am mourning the death of Kadongo Kamu music. And my fear is that Kafeero’s death could be the final nail in the coffin bearing the body of this style of music that Elly Wamala created in the 50s with his debut track ‘Nabutono’.

For the last couple of years, Kadongo Kamu has been struggling to survive stiff competition from mainstream band music. In a bid to survive, many would-be Kadongo Kamu singers have joined what, in local music term, is known as ‘band music.’

Kafeero is among the last of the true disciples of Kadongo Kamu.

Yes, Mathias Walukagga may be the reigning Best Kadongo Kamu artiste after winning two PAM Awards last year, for best Kadongo Kamu single and artiste; Lord Fred Sebatta is the purveyor of the sleek, high-tech brand that blends everything from rumba, reggae and hip-hop, with a few Kadongo Kamu elements. But, the title ‘King of Kadongo Kamu’ arguably belonged to only one man — Paul Kafeero.

The difference between him and that set of musicians was in the packaging. While Fred Sebatta and company were grappling with concepts of western pop, employing the services of top-notch producers such as Steve Jean and Winston Mayanja, to pull him through, Kafeero remained strictly a Kadongo Kamu singer.

He stuck to the insistent, rhythmic pulse of Bakisimba (a type of Kiganda folk dance) the core of Kadongo Kamu.

His productions did not have too much of that Afro poppy bounce, but they did have something special that made even the most tone-deaf fans cock their heads for an instant and listen!

Kafeero kept his music very simple thus it was easily accessible to anybody, from those with sophisticated music tastes, to those with shallow ones. In the studio, he employed modern recording techniques to enhance his music.

Not subdue it. He used to dictate the way his music was produced. He always ensured a sweet Bakisimba bass line, anchored it and had a steady pulse provided by his rhythm guitar.

But, there was something else that drew thousands of fans to his concerts — the lyrics. Kafeero was one of the most gifted songwriters with a very rich Luganda vocabulary, although oftentimes his songs were too wordy.

He was perceptive, clever and sharp with his words. This is one of the reasons why he kept tearing up charts with one hit after another.

You just have to listen to the word play in his songs like Kampala mu Kooti and the monster hit Walumbe Zaaya, a dark, brooding track about death, which won him an award at the Interrnational Theatre Institute festival in Cairo.

Words were also his best weapon. If you crossed him, he would not hesitate to draw on his rich Luganda to put you in your place. A street comedian called Dikuula is among the first people to fall victim to Kafeero’s vicious verbal artillery.

He tore him to shreds in the song Ekijjankunene part one, two and three, for making fun at him during his comic acts on the streets.

When he fell out with one of his girlfriends, Kate, whom he poached from another man in Bunamwaya, he penned Ekyali Ekintu Kyange, in which he called her a worthless woman who always returned home raving drunk!

Kafeero also wrote beautiful songs full of flowery lyrics for the women he loved like Bisirikirwa. It was penned for Robinah Bisirikirwa, one of his wives.

On stage, he faced problems that have afflicted too many Kadongo Kamu bands over the years — his Kulabako Band could not match the rich, highly produced sound of his recordings.

But however pathetic the band was, Kafeero somehow knew how to twist an audience around his finger and have it eating out of the palm of his hand.

He was a charmer who always set the stage alight with his sheer presence.

That was Kafeero the musician.
Kafeero the person was a different story altogether. He was kind, humble and soft-spoken, but also had a dark side that he made very little effort to hide.

He was a rabid womaniser. He had 18 wives (the number is estimated to be more) and an entire village of children estimated to be over 25. He was a hardnosed alcoholic and very proud of it.

He made constant reference to his love for booze in songs like Lusiya.
His favourite drink was neither beer nor any of those highly distilled imported wines and spirits that decorate shelves in the bars.

He preferred the fiery crude waragi, a potent gin, locally known as enguli and preferred taking a swig direct from the bottle, not a glass.

Such was his appetite for enguli that he could empty a bottle of the fiery stuff with a couple of swallows.

Booze finally took its toll on his health. The telltale signs were there for everyone to see — his formerly handsome features became rugged. His eyes were bloodshot.

His skin became leathery. His facial features became puffed and the lips were ‘burned’ to crimson red.

In 2004, he vowed not to touch a drop of booze again and even wrote a beautiful confessional track titled Dippo Naziggala, (I have closed the booze depot) in which he highlighted the devastating side-effects of alcohol.

Yes. He did close the door of the booze depot. Unfortunately, he locked himself inside and lost the keys! No sooner had he released the album than he started drinking again.

This time though, he hit the bottle harder than before.
From then on, alcohol ruled almost every facet of Kafeero’s life. He was his jovial self when he was drunk. He wrote better songs after knocking back a few glasses of enguli. He drank before going to the studio. He put up better performances on stage when he was under the influence of alcohol.

One of his wives, singer Bisirikwira even intimated that when Kafeero tried to abandon drinking, he became moody and withdrawn. This prompted her to write a track titled Dippo Ziggule (Open the Depot). She said Kafeero could only light up her home when he was drunk!

Unfortunately, drinking also got in the way of his music career on many occasions — cancelled concerts, verbal exchanges and occasionally ‘boozy’ fights with his fans became part of his repertoire.

At one time, a concert where he was expected to perform was cancelled in Mbarara after he failed to turn up.

When they went looking for him, he was found sleeping in a bar and very drunk.

Last year, he failed to honour a date in Kabalagala. The audience was informed that he had suddenly fallen sick. Of course the truth was: he was too drunk to stand on his two feet.

However, the incident that landed him into the biggest trouble took place in Musisi Hall in Bunamwaya Trading Centre.

When it was announced that he was coming, the whole of Bunamwaya village turned up and filled the hall to capacity. As was his custom, he first hit the bars of Bunawmaya to charge his batteries.

After the audience had waited for three hours, Kafeero finally staggered onto the stage, but before the band could play the opening chords of the first song on the play list, he asked in a lazy drunken drawl whether the Uganda National Anthem had been played before he came.
“No,” he was informed.

“There is no way I’m going to perform now. It’s too late. Refund the money to the fans,” he ordered.

The audience became rowdy. Kafeero sensed danger and tried to sneak through the back door. Three beefy female fans were waiting for him there.

They hurled stones at him. He tried to fight back, but was overpowered. One of them grabbed his hands from the back and rendered him helpless.

The other took off one of her frighteningly high-heeled shoes and pounded him in the face, opening up a gushing wound. The third, threw a beer bottle, which landed smack in the middle of his face and split his lips.
Others also joined in the beating.

The Local Defence Unit personnel saved his life by firing a volley of bullets into the air, to disperse the crowd.

Kafeero was rushed to the hospital and his assailants were arrested by the Police and later charged in court. He vowed never to return to Bunamwaya and kept his word until he died.

“We did not beat Kafeero because we hated him. We were just mad at him for cancelling the concert because he was too drunk!” said one of the women who attended the show that never was, adding: “It was too bad such a talented singer lived so recklessly.”

Kafeero lived by the ‘sword’. He died by the ‘sword’. It is sad for Kadongo Kamu music and his fans that it was the path he chose to take.

PAUL KAFEERO’S GREATEST ALBUMS
1.Muvubuka Munange (Ekijjankunene Part 1) — 1992
2.Ekijjankunene Pt 2
3.Ekijjankunene Pt 3
4.Abatunda Ebyokulya
5.Tuleeta Bilelya
6.Dippo Naziggala — 2005
7.Dunia Lyebagga
8.Olulimi Lwange (2006)
9.Kampala mu Kooti — 2002
10.Walumbe Zaaya
11.Omwana W’omuzungu — 1998
12.Baabo Bagambe — 1999
13.Nantabulilirwa — 2003
14.Dunia Weraba (with L. Kasozi and H. Basudde) — 1997
15.Gwe Musika(with L. Kasozi and H. Basudde) — 1997
16.Ekyali ekintu kyange
His last album, to be released, was recorded at Mesach Semakula Studio in Makindye

PAUL KAFEERO’S GREATEST HITS
1.Muvubuka Munange
2.Walumbe Zaaya
3.Nantabulirwa
4.Ensi Etawanya
5.Esaawa ya Walumbe
6.Abatunda Ebyokulya
7.Lusiya
8.Kekijjankunene Pt 1,2,3
9.Dippo Naziggala
10.Ndibakooya
11.Bisirikirwa
12. Kampala mu Kooti
13.Omulimi wa kunno
14.Omwana W’omuzungu
15. Abavumbuzi ababya
16.Kigambo byanfuna

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