Kenyans today joined the rest of the world in commemorating the World AIDS Day with calls on stakeholders to step up efforts aimed at lowering infections in the country.

This year's event was held in Kajiado where the local county government unveiled an ambitious plan to end mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis by the year 2024.

The plan supported by First Lady Margaret Kenyatta's Beyond Zero will enable Kajiado County to mobilise resources and implement programs aimed at ending the two diseases.

Kajiado County has an HIV prevalence of 3.4% with more women infected at 4.5% compared to males at 2.3% carrying a disease burden of slightly over 30,000 people living with the virus.

In her message, First Lady Margaret Kenyatta rallied stakeholders to ramp up efforts to end HIV in the country by investing in programs that will help guard vulnerable citizens from the virus.

“There is critical need for increased awareness and resources for prevention and treatment of HIV especially amongst our youth, and more work to protect people living with AIDS from stigma and discrimination.

“I strongly advocate for zero new infections and zero mother to child transmission of HIV. I continue to encourage mothers to attend at least four antenatal checks where they can receive free testing,” the First Lady said.

In a speech read by CAS Dr Mercy Mwangangi, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said Kenya will defeat HIV through a multi-pronged approach that covers increased awareness, action and resources.

CS Kagwe applauded Beyong Zero for its growing investment in the country's health sector saying the First Lady’s Beyond Zero initiative saying the initiative had catalysed the improvement in provision of health services across the country.

“Her (First Lady Margaret Kenyatta) consistent support for the Government’s Linda Mama Programme under the Universal Healthcare Scheme has led to many mothers delivering in medical facilities assisted by professionals,” the Health CS said.

Kajiado County Government also launched Kenya AIDS Strategic Framework II, Kajiado County AIDS and STIs Plan II and the Automated HIV Self-Testing Vending Machine during the event.

Multi award-winning South African producer, Sun-El Musician has released a new collaboration with  celebrated Kenyan music group Sauti Sol titled 'Fire' .

The single will feature in his upcoming album titled TO THE WORLD AND BEYOND (pre add album here) - out 4th Dec 2020.

Produced by Claudio & Kenza, both part of ElWorld Music, FIRE is Sun-El’s fifth release off the album following “Never Never” featuring Nobuhle, “Madinaye” with Ami Faku, “Ubomi Abumanga” featuring Msaki and “Uhuru” with Azana.

LYRIC VIDEO: Sun-EL x Sauti Sol - FIRE

Sun-EL weighs in on his first collaboration with the East African giants, “It’s truly amazing to work with guys who I have so much respect for their art. I have been receiving a lot of love from East Africa, especially in Kenya so it was an honour to be part of this collaboration.”

Sauti Sol deliver their distinct melodic lyrics in English and their native Luhya language on this feel-good afro-house track.

Chimano of Sauti Sol shared how special it was writing the song and working with Sun-El Musician.

“We love this collaboration. It was so organic and something that was about time. Sun El is an amazing chill great artist, we're happy we have this masterpiece with him and this is just the beginning of many more projects together.'' He said. 

FIRE marks the first collaboration between Sun-El Musician, one of South Africa’s most respected and the giants from East Africa. Since the release of his mega hit single “Akanamali”, Sun-EL has had a fast-growing fan-base in East Africa.

Ahead of the new album release, Sun-EL will hold a special 45 minute live virtual concert dubbed “Uhuru Spaceforce” on 3rd Dec 2020.

He will be joined by top music stars including Msaki, Azana, Ami Faku, Simmy, Mthunzi and many more surprise guests at this El-World RedBox Session.

The new album will drop right after the show.

To register for the virtual concert: http://www.uhuruspaceforce.com/

He shared a special message to his fans, “I am thankful and grateful to my East African family who have continuously shown me love and support. I am hoping to someday work with more artists from the region in their own space in order to be exposed more to  the full experience.”

Sun-El Musician’s sophomore offering follows his critically acclaimed debut album, ‘Africa To The World’, which debuted on the Top 200 Electronic Albums worldwide on Apple Music, and earned him over 50 million streams across various digital platforms.

VIDEO: Sun-El Musician Feat. Msaki -  “Ubomi Abumanga” 

Realness Institute has launched its call for submissions for their latest offering, Episodic Lab, a series development lab presented in partnership with Netflix.

Episodic Lab will be looking for writers from Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa with authentic and original stories of all genres.

The initiative is only open to writers from the 3 countries where Netflix is currently focusing its African Originals strategy.

Applications are open here: www.realness.institute/episodic-lab-application 

The Lab will take place remotely from 1 June 2021 – 31 August 2021 where selected writers will work on developing pitch documents for their story concepts.

6 writers will be chosen to spend 3 months in a ‘writers room’ format where they will work with a script consultant and a creative producer to fully develop their story concepts into an episodic pitch. Along with creative training, writers will receive feedback from Netflix Originals’ development team.

A stipend of $2000 per month will be paid to the participants to cover living expenses as they dedicate their time to the process. 

At the end of the lab, each writer will have an opportunity to pitch their finished product to Netflix and have their series developed for production.

If Netflix does not commission further development and/or production, the rights to the developed material default to the authors.

Creators should not be committed to a producer or director to participate in the lab.

The Writer’s Lab submission is open to writers from Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria with Film and TV experience in any genre (fictional or factual) or language.

“Series give writers the space to make bigger worlds and more layered stories,” says Asanda Biyana – Partner and Project Manager of the Episodic Lab at Realness Institute.

Adding, “There is no limit for what can be submitted, and I trust, with the pool of talent in our continent, that we will be blown away. I’m excited and looking forward to the tough job of choosing the first cohort.”

To apply, potential applicants must take note of the following:

 Eligibility Criteria:

• Writer/writing team* with either Film or Television experience. Only one writer will be able to participate if selected
• Any genre of fiction
• Language: English and/or local language
• Concept must be set in South Africa, Kenya OR Nigeria
• No producers or directors attached
• Payment of submission fee

TO APPLY:

Applicants must fill out the online application on the Realness Institute website at www.realness.institute/episodic-lab-application. Applicants are advised to read through the form before submitting. The deadline for submissions is the 31 January 2021 at midnight SAST.

Applicants will be required to pay a submission fee of 30 Euros via Paypal or 55 Euros via international wire transfer to cover the banking charges.

Wendy Kimani is one of Kenya's most sought after female singers. The Afropop and Soul star makes a comeback into the music scene with “Pagawisha”- new single and video. 

The Afrosoul banger in which Wendy sings of a lover who completely confuses [Pagawisha] her is produced by So Fresh.

Stream PAGAWISHA: https://ffm.to/wendykims.ois

Wendy says, “I am really excited to be releasing my new single after years of being away. I had so much fun working on this song. With it, I just wanted to bring musical joy to my audience,”

Adding on Pagawisha, “ It means, ‘you confuse me in the best way possible’. It’s a feel-good song talking about reigniting love in a relationship. It’s about finding that fire and feeling those butterflies again and getting romantic. It’s also about the fire I feel inside of me right now, I have fallen in love with music again.”

The music video, shot and directed by Alexander Ludwick and Kenneth Van Bochove, is a smooth dosage of Wendy and her love interest. 

In spirit “Pagawisha” that celebrates reigniting passion and falling in love is reflective of Wendy’s personal story of falling in love with music once again. With its positive vibes and African influences, this is the perfect song to bring some light into 2020.

Watch PAGAWISHA music video

This comeback means a journey to Wendy’s upcoming EP and single releases.

She teases her next single, “You will love my Afro House song coming up next, it’s called “Same Ol Love” and has got that South African house and dance vibes.

At the same time, Wendy launched a new YouTube channel, ‘Wendy’s New Normal’ that follows her life living in the Netherlands, since her relocation from Kenya.

She reveals, “It’s all about rediscovering myself, marriage, mental health, my hair journey and also health conditions like PCOS conditions.”

Wendy Kimani is one of Kenya’s top Afrosoul singers. Over her career, she has released a number of successful hit songs, including “Haiwi Haiwi” featuring Bien Aime-Baraza of Sauti Sol, “Unajua” and “Usiende” – both collaborations with Gilad.

Since its release, the “Unajua” music video has garnered over 6 million views on YouTube and received massive airplay across numerous radio and TV stations.

Grandpa Records founder and music producer Refigah has launched an exercise to donate thermo guns, sanitizers and facemasks to local churches and mosques in Kibra to help in the fight against the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

According to Refigah, there are over 83 churches and 14 mosques in Kibra and its environs, most of this places of worship are not equipped with thermometers or sanitisers .

"We want to ensure all Mosques and churches are well equipped with running sanitizers and Thermometers to face these challenging times ahead. Please continue to wear your masks, practice safe distancing and continuing to wash your hands as often as possible." said Refigah.

Among the places of worship that have so far benefited includes Jamia mosque, Makina, and Hossana Ministry Church in mashimoni.

This comes as the country's caseload is now at 82,605 with fatalities rising to 1,445.

The executive director of Sisters for justice(S4J) Naila Abdalla is the 2020 human rights defender of the year.

Naila received the prestigious award in Nairobi on Friday which recognized her efforts in defending rights of its community.

Her efforts in fighting against gender base violence have been remarkable to make her the first person from Mombasa to win the coveted awards.

With only few years into activism, Naila beat several bigwigs in the activism world to take the trophy back to Mombasa.

"Even though I do this work for humanity,it feels good when someone recognizes your efforts and awards you for the good job done,"she said.

The awards honours the extra ordinary works of HRDs  by awarding those who have demonstrated courage,innovation and impact in promoting and protecting the human rights and the fundamental freedom.

S4J is located in Kisauni area,right at the center of criminal gangs,extra judicials,sex predators and also extremism.

But with all this,Naila alongside other members in this community based organization who are mostily volunteers have continued to fight against injustices especially to women and children.

Naila has been vocal especially on GBV matters during this pandemic period.

Recently,she was recognised by a UK magazine,Wempower  magazine as one of change makers in terms of human rights defending.

From us Ommydallah.co.ke we congratulate Naila for her win.

Kenya's newest music star Mell has just released a new song titled Love.

The audio was produced by Ihaji and visuals done by Dolls. The project's executive producer is Jomination. 

Watch LOVE video here: https://youtu.be/Z6bp7izupDM 

ABOUT THE SONG

“The song 'LOVE' is just generally about love as the title speaks for itself. What inspired me to write the song is to appreciate our loved ones, the people who are special in our hearts, partners who inspire us in life and who play major roles in our love life experiences, best friends in all circumstances .This song is written for all ride or die couples.” – Mell 

EDITOR’S NOTE

Mell is a 23 year old singer, songwriter, trumpeter and plays drums as well. She is in her final year pursuing Bachelor of Arts in music at Maseno University. Mell is passionate about sharing life as she visions it and experiences it through her music. She has been performing in live shows with her bandmates Jiji Afrika and understands the live performance aspects as a building block towards growing as a versatile artist. On stage is where she let's go of everything holding her back.

Her past releases include Maumivu, Try Me (A cover), Chali and now Love, which is the newest release. 

Reekado Banks has unveiled his hotly anticipated new EP ‘Off The Record’—out 27th November on Banks Music.

The six-track release is a deep exploration into Reekado Banks’ Nigerian identity, with a global audience in mind.

This coming-of-age EP from one of West Africa’s most adored talents is his most accomplished release to date.

Stream “Off The Record” EP: https://mad.ffm.to/offtherecord

Things open with East African lead single “Mama’’ a highlife-influenced collaboration with Tanzanian artist Harmonize produced by Tee Y Mix, seeing both Reekado and Harmonize reeling off a list of locations before declaring that, ultimately, Nigeria and Tanzania is home.

Reekado says, “My brother Harmonize brought such a vibe to Mama, a very special song on this project. The song is a Pan African sound that anyone anywhere across the continent and beyond will connect with it instantly,”

Adding, “I knew my brother from the East was a perfect fit for this song. He was coming to Lagos often and as soon as we hit the studio, we made this classic!”

Reekado also revealed that he just worked on a song with Kenyan artist Otile Brown set for release soon.

“Mama” follows “Need More”, featuring Afrobeats rising stars Kida Kudz and EO, a blissed-out track that has already amassed more than 1 million combined streams.

Whilst the presence of the huge international hit “Rora” sees Reekado slow things down solo, the presence of starstudded guest collaborators continues throughout ‘Off The Record’, with exciting young singersongwriter Tiwa Savage lending her delicate vocals to the melodic “Speak To Me”, Reekado and Banku music pioneer Mr. Eazi channel a tropical vibe on “People Dey”, among other collaborators.

Reekado shares with fans on the EP, “The vibe is more mature in the sense that the messages touch on different realities, love, life, Africa and more.

Working with the likes of Harmonize, Tiwa and Eazi was great as we continue to move the culture forward and finally giving my fans something to rock before 2020 is over.”

‘Off The Record’ EP marks Reekado’s first extended release in four years, following on from 2016 LP ‘Spotlight’ which reached the Top 10 on the Billboard ‘World Albums Chart’.

Reekado is one of Nigeria’s most consistent hitmakers, racking up over 170 million streams across his back catalogue to date.

 ‘Off The Record’ Tracklist: 1. Need More Feat. Kida Kudz & EO

2. Happy Yourself
3.  Rora 
4. Speak To Me (Feat. Tiwa Savage)
5.  You Dey Mad (Feat. AttiFaya)
6.  People Dey (Feat. Mr Eazi)
7.  Mama (Feat. Harmonize)

MTV Africa and MTV Base announced the return of the continental flagship award show in 2021. 

The Iconic MTV Base celebration, MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMA), which showcases the ultimate in African culture, music, and creativity, will be held in a re-imagined virtual format in partnership with Uganda on February 20^th 2021.

The MTV Africa Music Awards Kampala 2021 will be broadcast on MTV Base (DStv Channel 322) and MTV (DStv Channel 130).

The repeat show will also be aired on BET Africa, BET International and MTV channels across multiple continents as a one-hour MAMA-themed MTV World Stage feature. 
 
The ultimate celebration of local African and international talent and achievement, MAMA 2021, in partnership with Uganda recognizes and rewards musicians, trailblazers and those who are shining a light on the continent's diverse talent and creativity by instilling positive impact on African music and youth culture over the previous year.

The awards ceremony will feature vibrant performances from leading African and international artists and will also showcase some of the biggest cross-genre and cross-border collaborations.
 
The event will celebrate African talent across 20 award categories, including Best Male, Best Female, Best Song, and Best Collaboration. 

The contribution of artists from Portuguese and French-speaking Africa will also be recognized in the Best Lusophone and Best Francophone categories.

Additional new categories included are the MAMA Generation Change Award, Best Fan Base, Alone Together Best Lock-down Performance and Personality of the Year.

These new categories seek to demonstrate MTV Base’s commitment to supporting the youth of Africa.
 
The MAMA Generation Change Award will recognize the inspiring, young changemakers of the continent who are tackling some of the world's most challenging social problems.

The Alone Together Best Lock-down performance recognizes outstanding performances that took place virtually by celebrating artists who took to streaming services to share their music and unite society during the unprecedented 2020 Lockdown.

The category selection criteria is from October 1^st 2019 to October 1^st 2020.

The nominees will be announced in December 2020 and music lovers will have their say by voting for their favourite stars online.

The engaging Q&A discussion included accomplished Ugandan artist Bebe Cool, highly skilled songstress Sheebah Karungi together with talented South African rapper Nasty C.

Commented Monde Twala, Senior Vice President & General Manager, VCNA, "We are excited to bring this amazing showcase to audiences across the continent and globally with an innovatively re-imagined awards show and celebration.”

Adding “Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, content production has embraced innovation as the new gold and we are excited to take Africa to the World and showcase its immense talent and culture as we stage the biggest music awards show on the continent."
 
On his part  State Minister for Tourism Uganda Godfrey Kiwanda commented, "It is an incredible achievement for Uganda to host the continent and International stakeholders for the MAMA Kampala 2021 for the first time."

Adding "The awards are an extraordinary African cultural experience, and we understand the important role it plays in driving awareness, cross culture education and profiling the continent's rich leisure tourism offerings on the international stage.”
  
The MTV Africa Music Awards Kampala 2021 is brought to you by Uganda, The Pearl of Africa in an effort to promote tourism, wildlife and cultural heritage conservation for the socio-economic development and transformation of Uganda.

Craig Paterson, Senior Vice President & General Manager, VCNA, continued, "The latest edition of the MAMA promises to be our biggest and most innovative yet.

Millions of fans worldwide will enjoy the digitally re-imagined celebration and African music via multiple broadcasts globally.

Always celebrating the pan-African scope of the MAMA, the awards will encompass three pulsating Road to MAMA broadcasts featuring MAMA nominees from across the continent.

The MAMA Kampala 2021 brings the much-anticipated music industry workshops in a virtual format for the continent's aspiring musicians, youth upskilling and development.
 
First staged in 2008, the MTV Africa Music Awards has recognised the talent of musicians, achievers and personalities from across Africa, rewarding iconic artists and gamechangers such as 2Face Idibia, AKA, Anselmo Ralph, Big Nuz, Cassper Nyovest, Clarence Peters, Cabo Snoop, Davido, D'Banj, Diamond Platnumz, Flavour, Gangs of Ballet, HHP, Fally Ipupa, Liquideep, Lira, Lupita Nyong'o, Mafikizolo Nameless, P-Square, Sarkodie, Tiwa Savage, Toofan, Trevor Noah,  Uhuru, Wahu, Wizkid, Yemi Alade,  Zebra & Giraffe and many more.
 
The MTV Africa Music Awards Kampala 2021 will broadcast on MTV Base (DStv Channel 322) and MTV (DStv Channel 130) on February 20th 2021.

The show will also be aired on MTV channels across multiple continents as a one-hour MAMA-themed MTV World Stage feature.