The renowned Ohangla artist, Atomy Sifa, has candidly shared his experience of encountering a challenging predicament that compelled him to resort to seeking financial assistance online.
Prior to his decline in status, Sifa was counted among the cohort of Luo artists who were experiencing considerable success from their music, which resonated deeply with the communities residing in the vicinity of Lake Victoria.
During a telephone interview conducted by a Radio Jambo reporter, Atomy Sifa said that he had never anticipated publicly appealing on the internet for financial assistance.
However, he has been compelled to do this action subsequent to the decline of his professional trajectory, a circumstance for which he attributes responsibility to an episode of theft that transpired within his prominent enterprise, wherein he had allocated a substantial portion of his financial resources.
Atomy Sifa asserted that he would not have sought financial aid had it not been for the intrusion perpetrated by robbers at one of his recreational establishments in Homa Bay county during the previous year.
The artist asserts that he had allocated a sum of Ksh17 million towards his venture in the bar industry. Regrettably, the establishment was subjected to a burglary, resulting in the theft of various assets, including artistic instruments. This tragic incident led to the artist’s financial insolvency, effectively resetting his economic status to zero.
At the Rockcity Jungle Resort, my establishment, which served as a bar, fell victim to theft. The perpetrators not only absconded with all the televisions but also made off with the capital funds and all of my musical equipment. The extent of their discouragement has significantly hindered my ability to recover. Subsequently, the establishment I managed ceased operations due to the depletion of its whole capital amounting to $800,000. Atomy Sifa asserted that the club was constructed with a total budget of Ksh17 million.
I experienced a depletion of my financial resources due to the allocation of all my available capital towards investments, including the purchase of various instruments. It can be likened to the allocation of financial resources towards the construction of a structure, only to encounter an impasse in its progress. I refrained from obtaining insurance coverage as I had recently initiated the process of establishing it. During that period, I was in the midst of acquiring insurance and a license, and all the necessary procedures were diligently pursued,” he further elaborated.
Atomy Sifa has gained significant recognition within the Luo music industry, particularly after his emergence in 2017 with a composition and performance that extolled the achievements of former President Uhuru Kenyatta. Subsequently, he said that he received a payment of Ksh6 million to compose the song titled ‘Uhuru Nyale’ (Uhuru is capable), which expressed criticism against Raila Odinga.
The aforementioned song constituted a significant threat to his personal safety, as he narrowly escaped a lynching in his community. The locals, displeased with his composition that lauded Uhuru Kenyatta instead of creating a song in support of Raila Odinga, expressed their discontent through violent means.
The artist was had to relocate to Tanzania due to a series of death threats he received from supporters of Raila Odinga, subsequent to the release of his song titled ‘Uhuru Nyale’.
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