Lady Maureen: The making of an ohangla music queen

Lady Maureen

What you need to know:

  • The self-christened queen of Ohangla, Lady Maureen, was undoubtedly the more dynamic of the duo, having mentored Emma Jalamo and Abenny Jachiga himself.
  • Lady Maureen had the distinction of harnessing the emotions of the masses, especially in her whirlwind political tours, charging crowds.

The year 2020 has not been kind on many fronts, and for ohangla musicians and fans, it has been a double tragedy. First, Covid-19 has put a halt to gatherings, meaning there are no longer gigs where revellers congregate to enjoy the music they love.

Secondly, and tragically so, the ohangla music industry has lost two voices in a span of two months – Abenny Jachiga and Lady Maureen, two foremost musicians who released hits that tackled the realms of love, politics, poverty and social justice. The grim reaper has dealt a double blow to the fans that revere this genre.

The self-christened queen of Ohangla, Lady Maureen, was undoubtedly the more dynamic of the duo, having mentored Emma Jalamo and Abenny Jachiga himself.

In this genre where men dominated and set the rules of the game, Lady Maureen fought against the odds to earn her place.

PRAISE SINGER

For the most part, she was a praise singer, and she would inevitably enjoy the peak of her career in a charged 2017 election year when she released an album with the politically inclined singles ‘Akuru Marachar’, ‘Gladys Wanga’ and ‘Raila Duog Dala’.

Lady Maureen had the distinction of harnessing the emotions of the masses, especially in her whirlwind political tours, charging crowds.

Her reputation was greater than any particular song, or album. Challenging the underlying nuances and imbalances of female involvement in music, Lady Maureen opened doors, or at least showed that it was possible for women to sing ohangla and not lose their womanness.

Yet Lady Maureen’s life and music were plagued by contradictions. Unlike other musical novices who prefer to take plain, simple and obscure positions, Maureen tended to be outspoken, even abrasive. In a genre littered with bullies, it was easier to find those who were willing to tell her that she would not make it rather than find those who wanted to support her.

Convinced that her creativity could not be contained within our borders, Lady Maureen dared to export her creative genius. In an ironic twist, it would be a decision that would plunge the songstress in a spiral from which she would never fully recover.

Arrested and thrown into a Tanzanian jail by immigration authorities in 2018, Lady Maureen would need the help of contributions to bring her home. Her financial nightmare had just begun.

BEDRIDDEN

Lady Maureen remained bedridden for most of the last three years. Yet through it all, she remained resilient. Her ill-luck is summarised at the place where her health concerns began — on the stage.

In ‘Akuru Marachar’ (White Dove), Lady Maureen sings of the new constitutional order in Kenya, hailing devolution as the path to the reclamation of the Kenyan dream.

Even in her political praise songs, Maureen was conscious of the predicaments of our day and did not shy from   making her opinions known. The singer’s life and death have been a culmination of opposing ideals. At the height of her musical career, Maureen commanded an almost cult-like following among her fans, but behind the façade of her prominence and fame, there was the reality of human weakness and limitations.

No one would have guessed that she could be stuck in hospital corridors, barely managing to offset her ever-piling hospital bills.

It took Lady Maureen a long time to get to the top.

Once there, she, like many others who strive for the top, realised that despite all the space available at the top, there is hardly any room to sit pretty. For now, the songbird has gone silent. We remember her resilience and admire her fight.

The writer teaches Literature at Ringa Boys in Homa Bay County