The first time I met Lekofi Sejeso was in the early 1970s. If my memory serves me well, it was in 1973. Lekofi and two other youngsters had just dropped out of school and formed a three-man band by the name 'Incrowds' where he was playing drums. His threesome band used to fill the Mater Spei hall in Francistown to capacity. Most of their audience were teenagers.
The band, which mostly played hard rock of the time, had Banjo Mosele on guitar, Ofentse "Bole" Moagi on bass and vocals and Lekofi on drums. Deep Purple, Rare Earth, Black Sabbath, Santana, Jimmy Hendrix and many more popular artistes of the time were always listed as musicians whose songs were played at functions.
Lekofi started playing music at an early age in Lobatse where he was inspired by people such as Mahloane from Peleng and a group by the name 'Scarers' which had singers such as Ausi Dineo Setena. At the end of the 1970s, he had played for several groups. Lekofi, who was now maturing, had bought himself a small keyboard and joined a newly established band, Afro-Sunshine which later rivalled Kgwanyape.
Afro-Sunshine proved to be a force to reckon with. I still remember their popular songs 'Mabasekete' and 'Tote' both composed by Lekofi and 'Rebalibile'.
Other members such as Chris Mbewe who played guitar contributed a lot in this recording. The band manager, Denis Alexandar was himself a bassist who once played for a Francistown group called 'Shades'.
He was known to be a no-nonsense man who took his business very seriously.
During the late 1980s, the pressure became unbearable for most members of Afro-Sunshine. A certain Jeff was brought into the band to do vocal cover songs. According to Lekofi, this created division in the group. One faction of the band always opposed the other. The new member, who was a foreigner, was supported by the non-Setswana speaking musicians who had little respect for creative music. The members grew suspicious of one another to such an extent that there were accusations of witchcraft that led to quarrelling. Some members succumbed to pressure.
The first one to break down was the bass player, Oupa Phofu who was later taken to his native South Africa. Before long, another member, Alex Kunda who played percussion became very ill and was taken to his home country Zambia where he later passed away. Saxophone player, Gino Maposa, who was always dressed elegantly became ill and was reduced to a nervous wreck who delivered shake-shake on a wheelbarrow to some of Bontleng spots (shebeens).
Denis Alexander, who was overseas on study leave came back home to resume his leadership of the band. It was not long before he had an accident that confined him to a wheelchair. Lekofi and the remaining members could not take it anymore. The band broke and he went to his hometown, Lobatse to rethink his next step. It was in Lobatse that we became closer. He used to confess that he was lucky to have come out alive from Afro-Sunshine. He said that there was a time when he retrieved a dehydrated dead chameleon from his keyboard. He made the discovery when he opened the instrument to check why it failed to produce a sound. I could tell that something had frightened him into confinement.
To defeat the pressure of 'solitary confinement' which was about to create chemical imbalance in his head, he started a back-yard bakery where he supplied the Peleng residents with hot bread and buns that he baked from his 'lebaka' oven. The buns were very popular and some residents of Peleng East still miss them very much.
During the times that I was not in the settlements where I was holding workshops for the craftspeople, I would find time to rehearse some songs with 'Cuff-Cuff' as we fondly call him. Later we performed the songs. We used to load our electrified acoustic guitars and amplifiers in my jeep and head for our venues which were mostly in rural areas where we had a small following.
When people asked us the name of our band, we would say we are just friends trying to make music for them. He must have liked the concept of the name, for when he moved back to Gaborone he started a jazz combo that he named "Just Friends".
This was the last group he ever played with. He is now performing as a one-man band. According to him, it lessens the problems created by having to deal with too many minds - the band members. When I recorded my CD, I used Lekofi's talent and studio where he played keyboard and added percussion instruments as well as bass to my songs. Though the equipment was not the best, we managed to come up with a recording that could be listened to. The question which is always in people's mouths after listening to this recording is who is playing the piano. Cuff-Cuff has what it takes to become a professional musician.
He is very versatile in his approach and can play any instrument with any band at anytime. His style of playing can range from Thelonius Monk to Dolla Brand. He is well known for his composition of the Zebras anthems, "Dipitse tsa naga".
Even though the song never got a good airplay, it is one of those which do not lose popularity easily. The dark coffee coloured musician is sometimes mistaken for a Zimbabwean though he is a pure Mongwaketse. He says he inherited the looks from his father. Brought up by a single mother, he is the first of six children.
One of his brothers, the late Bushi was a good bass player. Mma-Tebogo, Lekofi's mother works for Barclays in Lobatse where he was born and raised. Even though he is not yet married, he lives like a married man. He has someone he cherishes and he lives with her in a very orderly home.
