Political tension forces Lulu to cancel show

Musician Lulu was on Saturday forced to call off his planned show at Rock City in Lilongwe at the eleventh hour due to what he called “political tension”.

The Lilongwe-based artist said looking at the political situation in the country, it would have been a “huge” risk both for himself and patrons to have an evening show.

Lulu took to his Facebook account to announce the cancellation before subsequently apologising to his fans for the last-minute change.

Speaking in an interview on Saturday, the Mbambande hitmaker said when they were planning for the show, they had hoped that by that time the political situation would have returned to normal which has not been the case.

“You can see for yourself that even the streets are strangely quiet. Going ahead with the show will not be a good idea. We know it has been an inconvenience to our fans, but we have looked at the bigger picture,” he said.

Lulu, who was expected to perform alongside his Mathumela Band, said the public will be informed of the new dates for the show once fresh arrangements have been made with the management of Rock City.

Rock City manager Louis Jana, speaking in a separate interview, also confirmed of the development.

“We had to sit down and make a proper assessment of the situation. After weighing all the possibilities, we agreed it was best if we could cancel the show. We believe entertainment should be attained in a safe and secure environment,” he said.

However, despite the cancellation, some funseekers did not get the news and they went to the venue only to return disappointed.

Area 36 resident Montfort Moyo was among the people who did not get news of the cancellation.

He said: “The announcement has been made at short notice and the channel they used has not been effective. But all the same, we understand their concern.”

Commenting on the development, entertainment and arts commentator Samuel Chiwaka supported the move taken by Lulu, saying given how the situation is, it is better to take a wait-and-see approach rather than risking people’s lives.

“Everything has virtually come to a standstill because of the uncertainty. The tensions are very high. One would not want to have their fans caught up in some fracas,” he said in an interview. In view of the ongoing electoral impasse that has characterised the May 21 Tripartite Elections, there have been several demonstrations in Lilongwe and Mponela in Dowa.