Unity bid among musicians hailed in Murang'a

John Ng’ang’a, alias John De Mathew, Chairman of Talented Musicians and Composers Society speaks to journalists on unity among artistes from Mt Kenya region. [Boniface Gikandi, Standard]

Musicians from Mt Kenya region have bought a Sh10 million piece of land in Kenol Town, three months after agreeing to settle differences and work together.

Under the aegis of the Talented Musicians and Composers (Tamco), the 300 vernacular crooners say they intend to build a studio and rental units. 

Led by their lobby chairman John Ng’ang’a alias John De Mathew, they inspected their land at Kenol on Saturday.

The members united in January in honour of the late Kikuyu musician Joseph Kamaru, to help each other in business ventures such as real estate.

The musicians also joined Jane Wa Iria, Governor Mwangi wa Iria’s wife, to distribute food to 10 children’s homes in the county during Easter holidays. 

Mr DeMathew said the wrangles the musicians previously had had become a thing of the past. The crooners, for a long time, were known to disagree on different issues, the most salient being politics.

Unity, brotherhood

They said on Saturday that the wrangles would no longer stand in their way, since they would be guided by the principles of unity and brotherhood.

“Years have been wasted as efforts to bring the members together suffered setbacks,” said DeMathew.

“We have an investment that in the coming years will be a major source of our income. The music studio will be used to assist the upcoming musicians,” he added. 

The death of Kamaru in November last year saw the artistes call for unity among themselves and look for ways to improve their welfare.

Wa Iria told the musicians venturing into real estate was the wisest decision.  

“I am discouraging the musicians from creating saccos with different intentions. Their destiny lies in real estate, which has high returns,” said Wa Iria.

He also emphasised that having an umbrella body such as Tamco would help them fight piracy.

“Through unity and focus, the group can defeat piracy, which has been a major threat,” said Wa Iria.