Nkokowe's Live recording reveals Tswana beauty
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Tuesday May 30, 2023 06:00
Different performers served the audience with nothing but beautiful performances as they paved the way for the man of the night who is also famed for praise poetry, Moroka Moreri.
The event kick started with a beautiful performance by Tsikitsiki in collaboration with Mmasekgethu who ushered the very important persons (VIPs) including the Minister of Defense and Security, Kagiso Mmusi, delegates from South Africa and more.
Mmasekgethu opened the day’s performance with a long poem where he was also showering Mmusi with praises and later talked of how he used poetry to fight social ills like drug abuse among the youth and how he was worried that the Setswana culture is slowly diminishing. Just like it is a norm with many traditional poets, he cried to the Minister about how he was dying of hunger because he needed money for survival. He even showed Mmusi an empty briefcase saying it needed to be filled with money, making the audience crack in laughter. Wearing his capturing traditional attire, Tsikitsiki also delivered a winning performance.
His unique performance got the theatre roaring in happiness as that talented poet who has being in the industry for too long started his performance blowing a horn and further throwing bones on the floor just like traditional doctors and later recited a powerful poem. One of the beautiful poetry performances for the night included that of the Tito family, a family of three where the husband recited a poem praising his beautiful wife and the man of the night Moreri for his dedication in restoring the Setswana language and culture.
He also used his talent to sell the Setswana culture and language. Throughout his beautiful performance, his wife showered him with long ululations that got many revellers mesmerised. After the father’s performance, their son famed as Tonto, also left the audience speechless with his beautiful Setswana rich poem. Amongst the night’s music performance was from gospel legend, Phempheretlhe ‘Bafana’ Pheto who took the audience back in the years with some of his songs like ‘The Journey,’ Lekunutu le Morena, Can’t Hide it From God and others. A gospel songstress Kese Kalayamore and her crew also delivered an excellent performance.
Kalaharing Jazz Quintet featuring one of the talented old musicians and song writer Bojo Keipidile, who was said to have been a Grammy award nomination, treated jazz lovers to a number of splendid songs. On the other hand, Moreri finally treated the audience with his long awaited performance. Together with his talented crew, they delivered a top notch performance. Among some of the songs he sung include ‘Tshwene’, a song that he said was inspired by his late grandfather who was a very strict man but had a way of putting a smile on his family’s face.
He also sung a love song and Nkemo, a song inspired by a tale about wrecking another woman’s home thinking that a particular woman did not know until the man’s wife warned her to leave her husband. He also mesmerised the audience with his other beautiful jazz songs including Nkokowe named after the just recorded live session. “The Live recording of the album is a timely project to exploit the digital space that our country is going to create through the television platform. Agenda 2063 is concerned that Southern Africa is selling itself short by not creating enough cultural content. I am making my kind contribution to such. Through this event, I want us to raise enough money to help support Keipidile.
Let’s build a house for him. Let’s take care of our old musicians. I want us to help him record his songs while he stays in a healthy environment because he has contributed a lot to this country. He deserves to be taken care of,” he said. According to Mmusi, Moreri remains a renowned and distinguished Botswana poet, who has an illustrious record of more than 20 years serenading the public with his iconic traditional poetry rendition. He said Moreri’s poetry has occupied all performance spaces in the country.
“Batswana have enjoyed his oratory ability in weddings, funerals, corporate and national high-level platforms. Moreri’s poetry has transformed him to be a cultural ambassador of our nation. He has shared his oral poetry in Namibia, South Africa, Sweden, Russia and Scotland. He has made an indelible footprint in the documentation of Botswana poetry.
His masterpiece, Motlhaolosa, which at one point was used in Junior Schools, Senior Schools and Tertiary institutions, remains a great book of our times,” he said. Mmusi further explained that Moreri penned seven more poetry books that would remain a treasure to coming generations. He pointed out that his growth in poetry had seen his works being translated into other international languages such as Spanish.