Chronicle Editor
Showbiz Reporter
SUPERSTAR, Oliver ‘Tuku’ Mtukudzi has teamed up with low cost African airline fastjet and RED for a song in support of World AIDS Day 2017 celebrations that will be held on Friday.
Alongside his fellow composers, Mtukudzi will support RED, an organisation that harnesses the power of people and companies to help fight AIDS by donating all proceeds from the track’s sales to support the work of the Global Fund and its efforts to fight AIDS in Africa.
Titled Holiday, the track released earlier this month is set to be availed on short code as a caller tune in Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa and Mozambique, as well as on iTunes and other digital platforms.
The track combines modern dance music with Oliver Mtukudzi’s powerful vocals, with an underlay of traditional guitar riffs and beats.
“The appeal in the song lies in the cross-generational impact that I hope it will have,” said Mtukudzi.
“The more sales we have, the more funds we can generate to continue spreading the word about HIV prevention.”
Mtukudzi, who has campaigned to support the fight against AIDS over the past couple of decades, added: “We have all been impacted by the disease in some way or another, and a continued concerted global effort to support prevention efforts has to be sustained.”
Every two minutes, a teenager becomes infected with HIV, so raising funds for programmes that offer prevention, testing and treatment services is critical, said fastjet chief executive officer Nico Bezuidenhout.
“While progress in the AIDS fight is strong, there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done. The number of babies born every day with HIV has fallen by two thirds over the past decade and with sustained global efforts that number can be near zero by 2020.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter