LEGENDARY Kenyan traditional artiste Tony Nyadundo wowed fans during the Kenyan ‘Mashujaa Day’ celebrations at Macadamia Hotel in Kigali, last Friday. 

The singer brought the house down with his backup band and sent the middle-aged and matured audience into frenzy, despite the show starting late.

Clad in traditional Luo outfit, Nyadundo gave a lively and classy performance. Though the venue was far from the city centre, revellers enjoyed the performance.

However, one had to be a fan of Luo music to truly enjoy and sing along the music. The concert was opened by a nine-piece band from DR Congo.

To say that the ‘Ohangla King’ delivered would be an understatement. He was supposed to perform from 9p.m till 3a.m but he was so energetic that he kept going on and on as the crowd requested for more.

Nyadundo performed more than fifteen songs but the crowd went wild when he belted out ‘Ndoa ya machozi’ and ‘Isanda gi hera’, some of his most favourite tracks.

The event, which attracted over 200 revellers from different walks of life, ended at 4a.m.

Dubbed the "King of Ohangla", Nyadundo backed by the Ohangla Boys band performs ‘Ohangla’, a traditional style of music from the Luo community.

One of the organisers, Radio journalist Eugene Anangwe, alias MC Ken of Contact FM and chief executive of EA Production, told The New Times that the concert managed to attain its objectives by giving an opportunity to attendees to witness some of Kenya’s cultural values specifically of Kenya’s Nyanza Province, where Nyadundo hails from.

"We managed to show the friends of Kenya a different style of music. Something I am sure not many knew of. The crowd showed a lot of discipline, patience and had a lot of fun,” Anangwe noted.

The concert was attended by Kenyans from different communities.

"We managed to create an atmosphere that preached togetherness. That we can come together and celebrate our differences, mingle, exchange business cards and we believe that from this concert, who knows, different business ideas might have been conceived from this concert since the concert attracted representatives of various companies like Nakumatt Holdings, Sadolin Paints, Kenol Kobil, KCB, RwandAir, and Kenya Airways, among others,” Anangwe said.

Anangwe commended RwandAir for flying in Nyadundo and called upon other players in government through the ministries of East African Community, Culture, TradeMark East Africa and the media to support such initiatives, as they go a long way in promoting the social and cultural pillar of East African Community integration.

He noted that the role of culture in the integration process has been overshadowed by the economic pillar and yet all have to blend in to foster stronger integration.

Nyadundo said that he was so amazed at what he saw when he landed in Rwanda. He cited the cleanliness of the city, the friendliness of the people of Rwanda and the humility of Rwandans as some of the aspects that caught his attention.

The singer was also impressed at the level of development of Rwanda, especially considering what happened in this country in 1994 during the Genocide against the Tutsi.

Nyadundo challenged his fellow Kenyans to visit Rwanda and borrow a leaf from the country, especially on keeping the environment clean.

The concert was organised by EA Production, an events management and advertisement production company in partnership with DJ NANO.

"As organisers, we were definitely satisfied with the level of organisation and the way we had planned fell in place. But this doesn’t mean that we didn’t have a few flaws here and there that we ought to improve on or even make better,” Anangwe noted.

The organisers have promised more but even bigger and better concerts. The EA Production is preparing for the Kigali Triology Party, to take place in December.

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