Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Youth Affairs Sports and the Art, Ababu Namwamba and Permanent Secretary Ismail Maalim met with legendary Kenyan artist Colonel Mustafa. The Cabinet Secretary invited the Artist to a meeting upon learning of his plight.
The legendary genius artist slipped into a financial crisis owing to his mother’s cancer diagnosis. The treatment drained his finances, so he took menial jobs to sustain her chemo treatment. Accordingly, Cabinet Secretary assured him of the Ministry’s intervention to get him back on track, doing what he does best making music.
Meanwhile, Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba interacted with the Kenyan Artist during the meeting. “We have heard your challenges, and as a ministry, I want to assure you that we are here to walk with you in this challenging phase. Accordingly, We have put together a package for you to ensure you are back on your feet, making music and entertaining us.”
The CS also added, “We want to see you making more music, inspiring the younger generation of artists and nurturing them to stardom. The move you took to ensure that your mother receives proper health care is one to admire, and for that, we shall stand with you.”
He added that Colonel Mustafa’s music and the royalties that accrue from his intellectual property should be something he can rely on as a sustainable source of income. Accordingly, he stated, “This is what we intend to achieve through our #TalantaHela initiative. We want to ensure that our artists’ intellectual property rights are guaranteed to enable them to continue to live well, earning from their creativity, upon exiting the active stage.”
Meanwhile, PS Ismail Maalim encouraged Colonel Mustafa to see the positives in his decision to benefit his family. He also called on him to seize the opportunity the Ministry was extending to him, to make wise financial decisions to ensure that he lived decently.