The Daily IIJ

BY JAMES RATEMO IN NAIROBI

So Michael Jackson is dead enh? But why? Well I know this is the question that played on many minds and lips.Kenya was not left behind. POLITICS that take centre stage in Kenyan Media and the Somalia crisis was shelved as the country went into mourning for a man who “touched the heart of the world.”

We have lost a great musician. He rallied the whole world to help raise money for the severe hunger in Ethipia in 1984. He was an icon whose voice and lyrics transcended race, tribe and creed! Despite the scandals he came out strong and an inspiration to us,” says Maseme Machuka, a journalist with Kenya’s oldest newspaper The Standard .

MJ’s song ‘We are the World’ and other powerful numbers boomed across all radio anf TV stations in Kenya. Local stories had to die to pave way for stories about life and times of MJ.

I truly did not realise that this man inspired so many a people until I listened to guys talking in the streets, in commutter vehicles and in eating places.

Though he has died, his legacy remains. The voice is gone yet it willlinger for generations to come.

I also join the world to mourn this great musician whose talent moved the world. A quick Internet check in the country confirms that people have downloaded MJ’s music at the rate never seen before. Even Bloggers had to put aside their interests and drop a line or two about MJ. Even most of my Facebook Friends are all mourning of ‘what a great musician we have lost.’