Lydia Achieng Abura (died 20 October 2016) was a Kenyan singer who performed Afro-jazz,

Afro-fusion Afro fusion (also spelled afrofusion or afro-fusion) is a dance and musical style that emerged between the 1970s and 2000s. In the same way as the dance style, the musical style invokes fusions of various regional and inter-continental music ...

, and

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compo ...

Life

Achieng Abura was born in

Eldoret Eldoret is a city in the Rift Valley region of Kenya. It serves as the capital of Uasin Gishu County. Located in western Kenya and lying south of the Cherangani Hills, the local elevation varies from about at the Eldoret International Air ...

and held an MSc. degree in Philosophy and Environmental Studies. She had one child, a son named Prince. She had a love for music, was a great orator, and took music professionally, debuting with a gospel album called ''I Believe'' around 1990. Other albums that followed were, ''Way Over Yonder'' and ''Sulwe''. In 2002, when she had shifted to Afro-jazz, she released the album ''Maisha''. Kenyan musician Abbi was formerly Abura's backing vocalist before he became a prominent solo artist.Italian Cultural Institute in Nairob
Abbi & Kikwetu in concert
Later Abura released the album ''Spirit Of a Warrior''. In 2007, she released her last album titled ''Dhahabu Yangu'' by the Blu Zebra label, owned by

Tedd Josiah Edmond "Tedd" Josiah (born 1970) is a Kenyan music producer and entrepreneur. Early life Josiah was raised by his grandmother in Nakuru in Kenya, before moving to the USA during his early childhood to live with his father in Chicago. He credits ro ...

Career

She was the voice of

Crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly, a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not linked scientifically to any certain trait but is rathe ...

in ''

Tinga Tinga Tales ''Tinga Tinga Tales'' is an animated children's television series based on African folk tales and aimed generally at 4 to 6-year-olds that ran for two seasons (2011–2012). It was commissioned by the BBC for its CBeebies channel. Named afte ...

''. She was a

UNDP The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

Goodwill Ambassador, and toured abroad, for example in Spain. She was a member of the ''Divas of The Nile'' supergroup that featured four Kenyan female musicians Suzzana Owiyo, Mercy Myra, and

Princess Jully Princess Jully (real name Lilian Auma Aoka) was a benga musician from Kenya. Early life Lilian Auma Aoka was born in the village of Makalda in South Nyanza, in the southwestern part of Kenya. Her father died when she was one week old, leaving he ...

, and performed at the Festival Mundial in

Tilburg Tilburg () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. With a population of 22 ...

, Netherlands in 2007. In 2008, she acted as a principal judge of the East African

Project Fame ''Project Fame'' was a pan-African version of the international talent/reality show ''Star Academy''. Held in Johannesburg, South Africa from June to August 2004, the show had 16 African contestants – 9 of them South Africans – groomed for ...

(TPF)Tusker Project Fame 2008
and also campaigned for the

Global Call to Action Against Poverty The Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) is a network of over 11,000 civil society organizations (CSOs) dedicated to social justice, established in 2005 during the World Social Forum in Porto Allegre. It represents approximately 58 na ...

. Abura died on 20 October 2016 after a short illness at

Kenyatta National Hospital The Kenyatta National Hospital is the oldest hospital in Nairobi, Kenya which was established In 1901 as the Native Civil Hospital but later changed in 1963 to Kenyatta National Hospital. It is a public, tertiary, referral hospital for the Mi ...

Awards

Abura won the

Kora Award The KORA All Africa Music Awards are music awards given annually for musical achievement in sub-Saharan Africa. The awards were founded in 1994 by Benin born businessman, Ernest Adjovi, after a discussion in Namibia with the country's President H ...

in 2004 for Best East African Female; the award was shared with Tsedenia Gebremarkos of Ethiopia. She was nominated for the social responsibility category at the 2008

Kisima Music Awards The Kisima Music Awards is an annual awards program that recognises musical talent in East Africa. Despite being Kenyan-based the scheme awards artists from a variety of countries, predominantly Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, and incorporates a ran ...

. She was among the

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

n artistes sponsored by the

Alliance Française (; "French Alliance", stylised as ''af'') is an international organization that aims to promote the French language and francophone culture around the world. Created in Paris on 21 July 1883 under the name ''Alliance française pour la propa ...

in Nairobi.Daily Nation, Weekend Magazine, October 30, 2008
A new Kenyan sound on the way

Legacy

Before she died, Abura had set up an online fund for her son, Prince, who had a heart condition and sickle-cell anaemia. In the week following her death, the fund grew considerably and Prince was offered an educational scholarship.
Tuko, Retrieved 27 October 2016 Prince Abura later passed away on 10 May 2021 while he was a student at

Riara University Riara University is a Private University located along Mbagathi Way in Nairobi, Kenya. Location The university's main campus is just next to Nyayo Highrise Estate in Kibera, Nairobi County, a fifteen minutes drive from Nairobi Central Busines ...

and was set to have graduated in September of the same year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abura, Achieng 2016 deaths 20th-century Kenyan women singers 20th-century births 21st-century Kenyan women singers Date of birth missing