WE have recently witnessed a rise in the number of deaths of famo artists in Lesotho.
As a lover of famo music, I have enough reasons to worry about this trend and would want to appeal to players in the famo music industry to stop the killings.
Famo artists are split into rival groups that are fighting for influence.
Though most famo artists stay in South Africa, their roots are in Lesotho.
They also command huge support in Lesotho and South Africa.
Famo artists often sing about rival musicians criticising each other through music.
This could explain the rising violence that we are seeing in the music industry.
Famo artists who refuse to join either group are also killed.
There is always a state of belligerence in Mafeteng district.
The police have often tried to intervene to stop the war but appear to have failed.
In a few cases some assassins have been arrested and have appeared before courts of law while others have managed to flee after carrying out their missions.
The conflicts among famo musicians often peak during holiday seasons when both artists and their supporters are on holidays in Lesotho.
Famo music used to lift up the spirits of Basotho.
But today, the music is tasteless and offensive.
Instead we have music that glorifies the culture of violence in its lyrics.
The reality is that the violence among local artists and their supporters is threatening the future of famo music.
In my opinion the violence also undermines our reputation as a peace-loving people.
The tragedy is that the violence has now spread even to radio presenters.
These radio presenters are now being labelled supporters of a certain category of famo music and are being targeted for elimination.
This is unacceptable.
There is fear in Mafeteng where most of the killings are taking place.
But no one has really explained the root cause of this violence among famo artists.
The cause is still shrouded in secrecy.
I bow my head in shame over the continued killing of famo artists.
We need to spare the lives of these artists.
Most of the renowned famo artists in the district have been killed.
I am also appealing to the Lesotho Council of Churches to pray for peace and stability as far as famo music is concerned.
Instead of joining hands together to deal with piracy of their music, famo artists kill one another.
My sincere view is that if an urgent solution is not found, this country will be plunged into darkness.
