By Lisa Sidambe
On 21 May 2024, the Government of Lesotho made a shocking announcement. The airplay and circulation of Famo folk music was banned on radio and television. This followed the police minister’s criminalisation of twelve Famo music groups, their attire and songs, a result of the classification of these groups as gangs and terrorist organisations. Authorities equated listening to this music with supporting a crime, arguing that such an act is a crime itself.
Freemuse is deeply concerned about this restrictive measure which sweepingly criminalises the creation, dissemination and access of Famo music, as a means of curbing brutalities of gangsterism.
Famo music: A lethal history
Famo music has its roots in the labour force of the Lesotho populace that migrated to the mines of South Africa in the 1920s, largely from the Basotho ethnic group. Songs captured experiences of working in these mines, and served as a convergence point for the Lesotho migrant community, in the mines and informal settlements. Over generations, Famo music has developed into a form of storytelling, a narration of the anxieties, victories and aspirations of a Lesotho population seeking better socio-economic prospects both at home and in neighbouring South Africa. A mixture of different genres in the rich sound of Famo music is symbolic of the hybridity of the cultures the Basotho have encountered in foreign lands and exported home to the Kingdom of Lesotho.
As mines have continued to be shut down in South Africa, illegal mining has intensified, directly impacting the sound of Famo music. A competition for what is now limited resources has pitted migrant Lesotho communities against each other, creating rivalries under which some artists have instrumentalised music to insult and denigrate each other. The expressive music which once carried hopes and aspirations, has in some instances now been marred by expressions of vengeance. This has transformed some songs from a space of solidarity to the quest for gaining supremacy through violence, mostly between rival gangs from the North and South of Lesotho. Consequently, some artists have lost their lives, including those seeking to broker peace between the two main warring factions, the Seakhi and the Terene. One such artist is Lisuoa Khopolo Khuloe, aligned with the Seakhi, who was shot and killed on 20 July 2024, while seated in his vehicle in a public place, in the company of broadcaster Pulane Macheli who was also murdered. Although reasons for the murder remain unclear, it is widely suspected that the killing was linked to the musician’s efforts calling for peace, with one of the interventions having been an expression of such views in an interview on MXXL Radio, for which broadcaster Macheli was the host.
Murdered Famo musician, Lisuoa Khopolo Khuloe. Source – Facebook
Murdered MXXL Radio broadcaster, Pulane Macheli Source – Public Eye Online (Facebook)
While Famo music has indeed sometimes become a site of lyrical warfare cascading into extreme forms of violence between warring music groups, a ban on the entire genre threatens the core fabric of cultural expression, diminishing the cultural value of music as a form of narrating a rich heritage built over centuries and preserved through intergenerational exchange.
Ano Shumba, a music journalist and critic told Freemuse that a restriction of the right to access information conveyed through music is concerning.
“The government’s stance, as conveyed by the police minister, signals media repression in the Kingdom of Lesotho. It is unheard of for a government to criminalise music as an act of terrorism. It is deeply disheartening to see a government deny people their right to information, especially when music serves as a vital medium for artists to address social issues within their communities,” he said.
Authorities’ extraction of incidents of criminality to justify a wholesale ban, and brand music collectives as terrorists is a misrepresentation of identity. It disqualifies and discredits all artistic expression from artists who have exercised their right to association by affiliating with specific music groups. Additionally, a ban on the attire of the twelve music groups is a ban on the wearing of woollen blankets embellished with different patterns and colours representing a heritage of the people of Lesotho. Artists and followers of different Famo groups are identified by the wearing of specific colours and patterned blankets. The Seakhi group wears either a black or blue blanket, and the Terene group a yellow blanket. Criminalising the wearing of such blankets, within the context of Famo music, is yet another misrepresentation that incorrectly attaches physical identifiers to criminality, gangsterism and terrorism, unjustifiably making artists a target of law enforcement agents.
The Basotho blankets. Source- Vogue.
The yellow blanket is mostly worn by the Terene music group,
while the black and blue blankets are worn by yet another main group, the Seakhi.
As the rich sound of Famo music has quietened, to express itself as murmurs in the shadows, we urge the Lesotho authorities to reverse the ban on Famo music imposed on the twelve groups, and to allow for free expression through song. Restrictions to music which incites violence, and as permitted by international law, should specifically be directed at such songs and artists directly advocating violence, without enforcing a total ban. Any acts of criminality bordering on violence and murder should be treated and investigated as such, without undue restrictions to artistic freedom.
Further, Freemuse calls on authorities to lift the ban that criminalises the publication and circulation of information on Famo music groups gathered through interviews. Freemuse stands in solidarity with media groups including the Committee to Protect Journalists, and the Media Institute for Southern Africa, organisations that have spoken against the ‘media blackout,’ calling it a “dangerous precedent for censorship.” Media freedom is a key element of artistic freedom, granting artists space and voice to disseminate information.
Artistic expression, the right to affiliate with Famo music groupings, and freedom of the press should be protected and promoted in the Kingdom of Lesotho, in accordance with the Kingdom’s human rights obligations.
Links to Famo music
Famo music playlist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUJ_3O3-4Sk&list=PLCPjjvczD19LcRx9Ylef8OcGMoLa9uig-
Famo music video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=safXbLv1qfc
Al Jazeera documentary on Famo music and gang violence https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYEDo3Tv00g&rco=1
Lisa Sidambe is a researcher on Sub-Saharan Africa for Freemuse, and is a consultant researcher for the Zimbabwe based arts freedom monitor, Nhimbe Trust.
