. Masekela
By JOWIT SALUSEKI –
SOUTH AFRICAN Jazz legend Hugh Masekela says warring African countries should emulate Zambia which has been a beacon of peace for the past 50 years.
Speaking at a press briefing at Lusaka’s Southern Sun Hotel on Thursday evening, Mr Masekela said those engaging in coup d’état should learn from Zambia being the most peaceful country on the African continent.
Mr Masekela, who is in the country for the Stanbic Bank Jazz music festival, paid tribute to Zambia for hosting South African liberation freedom fighters such as Oliver Tambo, during the apartheid era.
Meanwhile, the veteran musician says the African society is the only one that tries to imitate other western cultures, stressing that his obsession was to see that the African heritage was revived.
“I am where I am today because of my African heritage … when white people come to visit Africa, they come to see animals but through misunderstandings of urbanization, we have been convinced that our heritage is savage, yet if we don’t revive our cultural heritage, in decades to come our children would be saying that we used to be Africans,” said Mr Masekela.
He is today and tomorrow scheduled to perform with Oliver Mtukudzi and Zonke Dikana alongside Zambian artists such as Mumba Yachi, Uncle Rex, Maureen Lilanda and Pompi at the Stanbic Misty Jazz Music Festival.
