Burning Spear - File

Devon Evans, Sunday Gleaner Writer

St Ann:

Jamaica's Grammy-winning international reggae singer Burning Spear gave a pleasing, high-energy cultural performance in Nairobi, Kenya, on Sunday, June 3, at the Kasarani Stadium.

Burning Spear was the closing act for the two-day SAWA festival, which sought to bring an end to the widespread violence in that African nation. Approximately 100,000 people from Kenya and other parts of Africa filled the stadium to see Burning Spear, and at the end of the two-hour-and-10-minute performance, the organisers, the Sarakasi Trust, were extremely pleased with the outcome.

Chairman and co-founder of the Sarakasi Trust, Rudy Van Dijck, reported that it was the first time that an event of this magnitude was being held in Kenya without any reported incidents.

Refreshing

The concert, to which admission was free, was the biggest of its kind ever held in Kenya, and was seen as a most refreshing respite to the violence which had over-come sections of Kenya in recent weeks.

Only a day before the concert, a minibus driver and his conductor were beheaded, and the bus set ablaze, by members of the Mungiki sect, in Karuri, Muranga village.

During his performance, Burning Spear, who is also known through-out Africa as 'The African Teacher', gave a well-received lesson on the importance of maintaining peace and harmony.

Songs such as Slavery Days, vividly reminded the Africans of the struggles against oppression and the need for Africans to shift from killing and brutalising each other and to unite towards obtaining full freedom and prosperity.

Spear told The Sunday Gleaner he was happy to have been able to bring about some amount of harmony among the people ofKenya. He said he hoped that the lessons learnt from his performance would continue to impact positively on not only the lives of Kenyans, but on all Africans who continue to struggle for their own sense of pride and unity.