Today marks the 15th anniversary of Prince Paulo Kafeero's death

Kafeero was a celebrated composer and singer in the tradition of kadongo kamu, which literally means one instrument.

Upon his death in Mulago Hospital in Kampala, just before his thirty-seventh birthday, Ugandans and people everywhere that heard his music were grief-stricken.

Kafeero was much loved Pulse

Before died, Kafeero was planning to celebrate twenty years in music and a catalog of eighty-three songs compiled in twenty-one albums.

Who was Kafeero?

Kafeero, Paul Job also known as Prince Paul Job Kafeero or simply Paulo Kafeero was hailed the Golden Boy of Africa.

Kafeero was celebrated as a genius in the music genre Kadongo Kamu.

His brilliant career began with his 1994 hit song Walumbe Zaaya, a fifteen-minute jeremiad on death in which no word is repeated.

Kafeero with "muzungu wife", Kathryn Barrett-Gaines Pulse

This song cemented his “street cred” as a musician, turning him into a veritable superstar.

It was out of the popularity of this song that he got the nickname the Golden Boy of Africa from the 1994 Cairo music festival.

This festival was attended by thousands of African contestants, where he won a gold medal from the Institute d’Etudes Theatreales.

In 2003, his hit song Dipo Naziggala, in which makes light of the drinking habits of Ugandans, he won a Pearl of Africa Music Award (PAM) for Kadongo Kamu single.

In 2004, he again won the PAM award for best Kadongo Kamu artist/group.

Background

Kafeero was born 12 July 1970 to Vicencio Nanganga and Phiromera Nannozi of Kirembe, Nkokonjeru in Mukono District. This region is also known as Kyaggwe. His mother died in 1990, just as Kafeero was beginning to achieve fame. His father died in 2011.