Ten-year-old singer, Salome Wairimu, creator of a viral song on Covid-19 titled Janga la Corona, on Tuesday, May 12, entered into a partnership with the Jackson Mandago-led Uasin Gishu County Government.
It was announced that the county would work with Wairimu to increase sensitization on Covid-19 and raise awareness on various precautionary measures and government directives.
Wairimu appeared at a press briefing held by Governor Mandago to flag off the distribution of relief food and other essential items to vulnerable households in nine wards in Uasin Gishu County.
Wairimu won the hearts of many with her stunning vocals and timely lyrics on Janga la Corona, a rendition of the independence song Wimbo wa Historia.
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Wimbo wa Historia, written about the colonial era which ended in 1963, was made popular by Leila Mohammed who released a modern rendition in 2018 in collaboration with the Permanent Presidential Music Commission (PPMC).
On Janga la Corona, Wairimu sings about how the pandemic struck fear into people's lives, calling for Kenyans to do all it takes to defeat it.
The song has since garnered close to 800,000 views on YouTube with many listeners in awe of Wairimu's undeniable talent at such a young age.
Wairimu previously disclosed that she came up with the song by herself, including the lyrics, and was doing it for fun before her parents took an interest.
"When I was writing it I was just doing it for fun. I started singing it when I was at home. My family heard me and they developed an interest and opted to take me to a studio where they included the beats.
"I'll say that I thank God because I didn't expect the song to get me this far," she noted in one interview.
At the ceremony in Eldoret, Wairimu performed the song before Mandago flagged off the relief food sourced from various donors who have offered to support the county's Covid-19 response.
Mandago praised Wairimu for her talent and assured her of the county government's support. He went on to speak against alleged plans hatched in Europe to test vaccines for Covid-19 in Kenya.
The Governor warned foreign powers against attempting to use Kenyans as guinea pigs, further calling for research on indigenous plant-based medicines that could fight Covid-19.
"Those countries developing vaccines, if we are collaborating for the good of human life in the world, we are okay. But if some countries in Europe and elsewhere think that they can come and use Africans and Kenyans as guinea pigs for their vaccines, we want to tell them we are sorry, we are not available.
"And we want to challenge our scientists in our universities and research institutions that we want to hear them coming up with our vaccines for testing. We also want to start saying we want to go test our vaccines in the United Kingdom, why is it that we are always the ones vaccines are tested on?" he posed.
Mandago urged Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe to analyse all requests for vaccine trials in Kenya, alleging that there could be a plot to use supposed vaccines for population control.
"I want to ask the Ministry of Health to thoroughly scrutinise all the vaccines coming to Kenya because it looks like someone might have a plan to control the population in Africa.
"And as Africans, can we believe in ourselves? Even these indigenous medicines are fine and they work, I know the doctors and university people don't want to hear that. All we need is research to establish the proper dosage," he stated.
Watch Salome Wairimu perform Janga la Corona at the ceremony below:
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