Malawi’s most celebrated musician and politician dies

By Jamal Jamal

LILONGWE, Malawi (AA) – Malawian singer-songwriter, music producer and politician Lucius Banda died Sunday at the age of 53 at a hospital in South Africa.

His family has not yet shared details about the cause of his death.

Popularly known as “Soldier” by hordes of admirers, Banda was serving as a special advisor to President Lazarus Chakwera on youth and arts.

He rose to stardom in the 1990s through his political songs, which were openly against the country’s former dictator Hastings Kamuzu Banda.

He became the first musician to criticize the country’s 30-year dictatorship.

Born in 1970, Lucius Banda became hugely popular for singing against oppression, social ills and inequalities, earning himself the moniker “Soldier.”

He launched his music career at the age of 13 and had released 20 albums at the time of his death.

Banda was also campaign director for the United Transformation Movement (UTM) founded by former Vice President Saulos Chilima, who died in a plane crash on June 10 this year.

Tributes are pouring in from all corners of the country and beyond describing the late musician as an “icon who stood for the underprivileged and downtrodden.”