Ridiculed, frustrated but Sespo stays strong

No matter what they say, Sespo (Zacharia Malake) will stay put. The blind disco musician has been ridiculed, frustrated and pulled down, but he simply refuses to give up.

This is the message in one of his songs in the upcoming album. The chorus of the pop-reggae number goes, "Noma benga thini, ngizo bekesela". Sespo has not allowed his disability to get in the way of his dream, a dream to be a disco musician of note whose composition would be able to make people embrace life and its challenges.Although he is not among the best vocalists to come out of Botswana, he has proven his prowess when it comes to playing musical instruments, especially mastering the keyboard.This new offering is a demonstration of good skill in playing the instrument by the musician and fellow artist and friend Frederick Ntongwa. The two co-produced the album with Tando Zinto.

"Fred is actually the one who unearthed my talent because I had just thought of myself as a good dancer, nothing else," he said.In one of the tracks Sespo salutes his friends who stood by him when he lost his sight in 1989."It sort of happened in a strange way. One evening while with a friend at home in Malaka my eyes just went blank and I thought he had put off the lamp and funny he thought I was joking when I told him I could not see.Doctors confirmed later that my nerves were damaged beyond repair and that was it," he recalled.

Editor's Comment
Oh what a State funeral!

That rare sight deserves heartfelt praise, not only for President Duma Boko and his administration, but also for the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), the Mogae family, and the entire country.President Boko’s decision to grant a full state funeral to a man who belonged to a rival party was a mark of true statesmanship. He recognised that national leadership carries a weight that belongs to the whole...

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