Joseph Ssemutooke
4 October 2008
Kampala — THE first recognition came from Southern Sudan back in 2005, when the president, Salvar Kiir himself, handed Loketo Lee a Peace Award for his contribution, through his music, to the country's peace process.
Lee's song Salva Kirr played regularly on BBC Africa Service and was nominated for the BBC Africa Peace Song Award.
The following year he bagged the maiden PAM Awards Nothern Artiste of the Year accolade, courtesy of the track Bigombe which encouraged dialogue between the LRA rebels and the government.
Now last month Loketo Lee made it a treble when the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Okello Oryem presented him with another peace award, on behalf of the Ugandan government, in recognition of his contribution towards the Nothern Uganda peace process.
All the recognition points to the fact that Loketo Lee is an artiste of substance whose music has been more than just entertainment but, like all worthy art, has also made a contribution to the prosperity of his community.
And the humble singer himself seems flabbergasted by the seriousness with which "serious people" are taking his music. As he talks about that most recent feat, somehow you catch a scintilla of how little he expected it as he tells of how Minister of Internal Affairs Ruhakana Rugunda commended him for recieving the award.
"Rugunda told me on phone," he says with emotion, " 'I am so proud of you, Loketo Lee; your music has done a tremendous job for the peace crusade.' This was after Minister Oryem surprised me with an abrupt call sometime last month informing me that I was to be presented with a peace award at the Ministry of Internal Affairs in a few days' time!"
A thorough tracing of the man's musical footsteps to where he is today should perhaps suffice to explain his feelings about the entire affair, and perhaps a critical look at his works should explain why all the recognition and awards are raining in one after another.
Before venturing into the music industry in 2001 Loketo Lee was all about his Taekwondo martial art/sport, where he already held a Black Belt and had won the national as well as the Central and East African Championships. His only relationship with the music industry was through artiste Bobi Wine, his life-long friend with whom he had grown up in Kamwokya and to whom he served as bodyguard, and later Jose Chameleone who would hire him as bodyguard at his shows.
But that all changed in 2001 when Bobi Wine met the recording expenses at the Kamwokya-based Dream Studios for Loketo Lee to record We Don't Mind-We Don't Care. The song about the political insurgency in Nothern Uganda was an instant success.
Lee recalls: "For some time I was seeing Chameleone and Bobi Wine putting across their messages and making a lot of money singing, yet I knew I could also sing. So I just decided one day to give it a try. That's when it came to mind that I could use my voice to call for peace in Nothern Uganda. I decided that I would not sing about love or just partying like the other artistes but use music to help the peace process back home.
"The LRA were cutting people's lips, burning houses and wrecking all sorts of havoc, but no one seemed to care. I sang We Don't Mind,We Don't Care to call to attention the people who seemed unbothered about what was happening in the North."
Soon after he made his call peace talks began with Betty Bigombe as chief mediator between the rebels and the government, and for Loketo Lee it was motivation to continue using his music to contribute to the efforts to return peace.
So in late 2005 he released We Care, We Mind to reflect that now there was some concern for returning peace to the North. He aimed to encourage these people who had shown concern.
Then in 2006 he released the hit Bigombe which aimed to encourage Bigombe and her entire peace team to continue with the mediation so the insurgency could end, and the track was largely successful going by airplay on TV and radio.
2007 saw Loketo Lee drop the album Mawe Mawe which reportedly was very popular in Southern Sudan, while this year he has dropped Peace Talk whose title track is a cry to both the rebels and the government to return to the negotiating table and sign peace.
The album is set to be launched on October 31 at Rock Catalina in Ntinda
However, because peace looks like it has returned of peace to Nothern Uganda, Loketo Lee now looks to spread his wings and become known as more than just the musician who sings in Luo primarily for the peace process. Peace Talk features three tracks which are not related to the peace crusade. Two of them, Mwana Muwala and Tukole Bukozi have the artiste give his first shots at singing in Luganda.
"I'm now happy peace is returning to Nothern Uganda," he says, "and that I should get recognised as having contributed to its attainment."
"Peace will come back, ' he continues. "It just needs to be allowed time, as it can't be in one day. The government should just leave the door open for talks as they have commendably done."
Then there is palpable elation as he talks of what joy he feels when he sees the likes of Brigadier Banya and Kamdulu - former LRA rebels - living peacefully back home after taking amnesty and coming out of the bush, and when he sees the people in northern Uganda and Southern Sudan return to their villages to once again lead normal lives.
Yet it should perhaps be surprising that for all his efforts towards the peace process Loketo Lee has never lived in the insurgency-hit Nothern region of the country.
Though a son of the region with ancestry in Labong, Kitgum District, Loketo Lee was born in Kampala 28 years ago and grew up in the city suburbs of Kamwokya and Kyebando. He went to St. Jude primary School and St Peter's Tororo for primary and secondary school, but chose not to continue with school after UACE in 1998 so he could pursue his Taekwondo. He had already won national and international championships.
He lives with his wife Grace Nabagereka, the mother of his two children, in Kyebando, and only goes to the North for performances, though this happens quite regularly now. He also travels to Southern Sudan, a lot.
He has not quit his Taekwondo either. He still trains students at Bugolobi Body Wise Health Club.
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