One of Kenya’s celebrated singers has turned into one of the most frustrated by piracy. Benga songbird Lilian Auma, popularly as Princess Jully, is reportedly prospecting for gold in Migori after illegal sell of her music drove her out of business.
Also known as Alily nyar Jogina, she topped the charts in the 1990s, and is well known for her all-time hit Dunia Mbaya. “Most people get shocked when they find me in the mines,” Jully told the Star.
She said she moved from her Ksh30,000-a-month rental house in South C, Nairobi, to her rural home in Bondo Nyironge, Suna West sub-county. The artiste now lives in a mud house she built on her own where she does not have to pay rent, the newspaper reports.
Jully travels for more than 50km to Komito goldmines in Rongo sub-county, where she net Kh300 a day. She said after the death of her singer husband Prince Jully in 1997, she moved to Nairobi to do business and produce music. She even opened a distribution shop on Mfangano Street in the city centre.
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She produced Dunia Mbaya a year later, which propelled her music career at a time the country had declared HIV-Aids a national disaster. “From my shop in Nairobi, I distributed my music across the country and to Tanzania. Business was booming,” Jully said.
The artiste said she still has the prowess to sing.
“I plan to record a song on terrorism attacks in the country and send a message to al Shabaab to end radicalisation,” Jully said.
Her musician son, Makajully, took to social media to show support. “Mama wanted to make the world a better place. She invested in hundreds of people, paid school fees and housed orphans,” he said.
Makajully said he is proud of his mother, whose challenges she termed “a passing wind.” “I am proud to be the son of such a great woman,” he said.
