Sal Davis (Salim Abdallah) 1963

Mohamed Said · 2022-02-10T16:58:09+00:00

SAL DAVIS 1963 One day Tom Mboya rang me and asked me to go and see him. Tom Mboya came to England in 1957 to study at Ruskin College, Oxford the same year I came to England. Tom Mboya was staying at Cumberland Hotel opposite Marble Arch near Hyde Park. I went to see him and he informed me of the government’s intention to invite me to uhuru celebrations along with Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte and Miriam Makeba. Mboya was the Chairman of Independence Celebrations Committee. I had an occasion of seeing Miriam Makeba in London when she appeared in a show with other South Africans called ‘King Kong.’ Usually after a show, we in the show business as is the tradition go backstage to meet fellow stars. It was here that I met Makeba briefly. At that time Makeba was not a very big celebrity, which he came out to be later. Mboya told me that I should write a song for Kenya’s independence. I wrote ”Ayayaa Uhuru” and the song was recorded by Philips of Holland. When Kenyatta and his delegation came to London to Lancaster House for constitution conference, I went to see him and I presented the song to the Kenyan delegation. Jomo Kenyatta was with Paul Ngei, Charles Njonjo, Njoroge Mungai and others. I had the tape with me and I played it to them. They loved the song. I arrived in Nairobi and government officials received me at the airport. What a homecoming. In 1957 I left for England and none one except my immediate family was aware of my journey. I was coming back not as a learned brother’ as my poor father had envisaged but I was coming back as a pop star at the invitation of the new Kenyan government. I was coming back home and the whole country was aware that Sal Davis was coming home to take part in the independence celebrations. I was a state guest and together with Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier and Miriam Makeba we stayed at the Norfolk Hotel. As state guests, the police escorted us wherever we went with the press not so far away from us. It was very difficult for me everyone was trying to reach me at the hotel, friends and relatives let alone the press, which wanted to have interviews. I had not realised that I had grown this big. I was a big star. PICHA: Picha ya kwanza Sal Davis akipokelewa na Meneja wa Philips Uwanja wa Ndege na kumpigia nyimbo yake ''Ayaaa Uhuru,'' santuri iiyotolewa na Philips. Picha ya pili Sal Davis akiwa Ujerumani katika onyesho. Picha ya tatu Sal Davis na Mwandishi wakiwa Chef Pride Restaurant, Lumumba Avenue 2006. Hoteli hii haipo hapo hivi sasa, (The Autobiography of Sal Davis) Bado kitabu hakijachapwa.

Thread starter Mohamed Said
Start date Feb 10, 2022

Mohamed Said

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Sal Davis (Salim Abdallah) 1963

Mohamed Said

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