Article summary, in lieu of abstract
In this article I examine how East African musicians used song as both a tool of public health communication and an archive of collective experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on Ruth Finnegan’s theories of African oral literature, Okot p’Bitek’s account of the artist as a cultural ruler, and prior studies of musical interventions during the HIV/AIDS crisis, the article argues that music has long functioned as a social, historical, and pedagogical medium across the region. Focusing on three songs: Mrisho Mpoto’s Kwaheri Corona (Tanzania), Bobi Wine and Nubian Li’s Coronavirus Alert (Uganda), and Salome Wairimu’s Janga la Corona (Kenya), I show how musicians translated scientific guidance into accessible, culturally resonant messages about prevention, hygiene, and collective responsibility. While Mpoto and Wine frame their interventions through nationalist rhetoric and calls for unity, Wairimu emphasizes the emotional and social disruptions caused by the pandemic.
Because social distancing curtailed live performance, digital platforms such as YouTube became crucial mediating spaces, enabling artists to reach vast regional audiences through Kiswahili and English. I conclude by arguing that these songs not only mitigated the spread of the virus but also function as historical archives, documenting East Africa’s communal response to COVID-19 and demonstrating the enduring social power of music.
Sam Dennis 