Sahawa, whose official name is Sadia Haro, is a secular artist from Isiolo County. Her star started shining during the last general elections of the year 2022 when the songs she sang in praise of various candidates caught the attention of the local populace and beyond.
Her reverberating songs spread across the Borana/Garre/Ajuran speaking regions such as Isiolo, Marsabit, Tana river, Wajir and Mandera just to mention but a few, resonating quite well with the audience leading to many of the candidates she sang for emerging victorious at the ballot.
Her fame spread like bush fire and soon even before the votes were cast, her newfound fans started recommending for her to further her career in the music industry even after elections are over.
However, Sahawa’s most notable works are indisputably those that she did for the current Isiolo County MP, Mumina Bonaya.
A number of campaign songs that she did for Ms. Bonaya became instant hits with tracks like ‘Muminan tah Abbo Gollo’ becoming household favourites so much so that even supporters of Mumina’s opponents admitting the song hits a cord with them.
Bonaya would later even change her official Facebook page name to add the ‘Tah Abbo Gollo’ tag paying a tribute to the artist in a big way.
The term simply means ‘Mumina is the daughter of father Gollo’, a cherished term to imply that the people know her as one of their own and that she(Mumina) isn’t a stranger to them as some of her opponents were trying to paint her.
She seems to have taken this advice by her fans seriously and before long, she would release her first secular song which she titled ‘askootu’, an Afaan Oromo word term which loosely translated implies ‘come here’ which became an instant hit in local radios solidifying her place in the still budding local music industry.
She would follow this with hit after hit, a notable one being ‘yadho tetuyu waola’ which most of her fans understand as ‘shakahola’ because of her incorporating the term in the song.
By Shaka Hola, she was drawing comparisons between a place without the presence of her better half and Shaka Hola, an infamous place where over 400 members of what has come to be known as the cult of a pastor Paul Mackenzie perished while fasting continuously for days allegedly in the hope of meeting Jesus.
I digress, on the 13th of August, Sahawa took to her official Facebook page and announced that she will be dropping her debut album on the 28th of September 2024 which will go down at the famous Ayyo Village Resort and Hotel.
Ayyo Village Resort, the venue where the launch will be hosted is within the precincts of Isiolo’s central business district and has always been a favourite for entertainment events.
Throngs of her fans expressed their undivided support to her and posts promoting the album on nearly every social media platform have been going viral.
According to information we gathered regarding the upcoming album, it is said to contain at least 14 songs, some of which she intends to keep it as a secret until the day of the official launch.
Some of the songs which we have been assured to be included in the album include among others her debut secular single titled ‘Askootu’, ‘Yadho tetuyu waola(ShakaHola), Firra Koo(which she released a snippet of for promotional purposes), Abbo(a song where she reminisces moments with her later father) just to mention but a few.
The event is believed to be one of the biggest entertainment events ever to go down in the greater Isiolo county by any local indigenous artist.
Sahawa’s album launch has already attracted the attention of key players and bigwigs in the local entertainment industry with several vacating their calendar on the material date to support her effort in putting her album together.
A number of key sitting politicians including sitting governors, MPs and MCAs drawn from across Northern Kenya are reportedly set to grace the event.
Big name entertainers among them Bonaya Doti, Lady Herbs among others are set to be the key entertainers who are set to perform at the event.
Speaking to ICBNews, Sahawa expressed optimism that the event will be a success. “It’s a great moment, not just for me, but also for the entire local entertainment and artistic industry. This will set the basis for the success of future artists in this industry,” Sahawa remarked.
The famous DJ Bahaa has been named as the MC of the event taking the demand for the event a notch higher. This is because of DJ Bahaa’s undisputed ability to pull crowds and events hosted by him have always recorded highest levels of success.
ICBNews shall keep you updated regarding any new information that suffices regarding the launch of the highly anticipated album.