Ney wa Mitego’s ‘dirty’ song earns him an indefinite ban

Dar es Salaam. The National Arts Council (Basata) has barred rapper Emmanuel Elibariki aka Ney wa Mitego from engaging in music indefinitely due to his controversial song  Pale Kati.

Basata executive secretary Godfrey Mngereza said yesterday in the city that the decision was made on the grounds that Ney’s song bears immoral content that goes against Tanzanian values and traditions.

“We have barred him from performing in Tanzania indefinitely. He must meet conditions that we have set for him if the ban is to be lifted,” said Mr Mngereza.

Apart from the ban, the Council also imposed a Sh1 million fine and ordered Ney wa Mitego to revise the lyrics of his Pale Kati song so that they would reflect Tanzanian values. Basata has also ordered the rapper to apologise to the public.

The decision, according to Mngereza was made after lengthy discussions with the artiste.

For his part, Ney admitted that it was wrong to release the song to the public. He promised to work on Basata directives.

The singer said that he was not aware that Basata was supposed to go through songs before being released in public.

In February this year, Basata banned  another song by Ney, Shika AdabuYako  for content that appeared to compromise national values. 

Nay becomes the third artiste to be hit with a ban by authorities following this year’s ban of Chura, a song by another Bongo Flava artiste, Snura.

The ministry of Information, Culture, Artists and Sports issued a ban on her ‘erotic’ video and song which was being aired on the mainstream and social media in the country.

Last year another female artiste, Shilole, was given a year-long ban by Basata following her indecent conduct during a live show in Antwerp, Belgium. The video of the show went viral on social networks.