Legendary musician Sir Paul Banda nearly shed tears on Thursday as he felt all the love from renowned writer Stanley Onjezani Kenani and team as well as Malawians for raising over K14 million to support him as he continues to access dialysis services twice a week at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) in Blantyre due to a kidney problem.
Kenani started the fundraising initiative, which closed on Tuesday last week, through his social media page and Malawians within and outside the country responded positively to raise K14, 567, 950, which was handed over to the legendary musician on Thursday morning at Chatha, Chileka, where he relocated to access treatment at QECH easily.
In fact, for Sir Paul to move to Blantyre, he failed to travel to QECH due to transportation challenges and ended up getting very ill such that he lost hope.
It had to take his brother Soldier Lucius Banda, who died recently due to the same problem, to help him to access dialysis.
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In the absence of his wife, who was away, Sir Paul, in a jovial mood and dressed in a Chitenje shirt, welcomed the team that came to give him the dummy cheque led by Macmillan Mhone, who represented Kenani.
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Sir Paul later nearly shed tears when Mhone handed over the K14 million dummy cheque with the money wired later by Kenani.
“This is not the first time Malawians have helped me. Let them not stop here because there are more people out there who need help. I am thankful to Mr Kenani and team and all Malawians,” he said.
Sir Paul, who has contributed immensely to the growth of the creative sector particularly music, also said he misses the stage and that he hopes that a day will come when he will perform again for Malawians.
Veteran gospel musician Wycliffe Chimwendo, who is Musicians Union of Malawi Board Chairperson, hailed Kenani and team as well as all Malawians for supporting Sir Paul.
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“We cannot talk about Malawi music without mentioning the name Sir Paul Banda. I, for one, have gained mileage in music because of Sir Paul and, so, we need to look after him,” Chimwendo said.
With the money raised, Chimwendo also said there was a need for the government to make efforts to have the legendary musician go for a kidney transplant in India, describing Sir Paul as a treasure to the country.
He also called upon Kenani and team, who later connected with Sir Paul virtually, that they should not tire but continue to help out on the issue of having the veteran musician undergo kidney transplant in India.
