Zambian officials have arrested singer and musician Chama Fumba (known on stage as Pilato) over a song which they say could cause public disorder. He faces trial tomorrow and could see a potential six months of jailtime.
The song in question, titled “Alungu Anabwela,” tells the story of a character named Lungu who grows up in a slum and becomes president. One verse describes the fictional president as carrying a suitcase filled with bottles of whiskey and having no ideas about how to govern. In a piece of text accompanying the song online he described it as being “inspired by real people and happenings” but did not make any specific reference.
The song itself appears below:
Fumba entered a not guilty plea in a preliminary hearing, and his bail was met by two Members of Parliament belonging to opposition parties, Request Muntanga and Levy Ngoma. Fumba and his lawyer requested that the trial move forward promptly, and the singer faces a hearing tomorrow, at which he could face any charge ranging from a fine to six months in jail.
Fumba is not the first musician to have clashed with Zambia’s political establishment, and his case has been met with support from the country’s artists, human rights groups, and political opposition. Fumba’s case has raised further questioning of the sections of Zambia’s penal code which outlaw defamation of the president and acts with seditious tendency.
Pilato, however, said that he did not regret the night spent in a jail cell, and is instead focused on the release of his new album.