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Reports that Uganda’s Afrobeat musician Joseph Mayanja, known by the stage name Jose Chameleone, has been in poor health is not only scary and disheartening but also concerning. The 45-year-old is said to be frail and invalid, enfeebled by acute pancreatitis – an inflammation (swelling) of the pancreas, a condition that seems to have rendered the once robust and prolific musician incapable of plying his craft to full potential.

More concerning is the emerging development that in the midst of this life-threatening condition, authorities in Uganda initially left the family to handle the situation, especially in dealing with the musician’s reported alcohol consumption habits.

According to the Mayo Clinic in the United States, pancreatitis may start suddenly or develop over time. Its common causes include gallstones; infections; complications arising from cystic fibrosis; high blood triglyceride levels; high blood calcium levels; inherited gene mutations; and heavy alcohol use.

Recently, Chameleone’s son Abba Marcus went public, warning that if his father did not slow down his alcohol consumption, he would be putting his life at risk. According to Marcus, local physicians had cautioned that the musician’s longevity may be uncertain if he continues what seems to be uncontrolled alcohol consumption. The doctors diagnosed the singer’s pancreas as inflamed, prescribing major surgery, a delicate procedure that would best be undertaken in better-equipped and staffed hospitals abroad.

Absorbed alcohol affects virtually all tissues in the body. Data suggests that even one episode of binge drinking can compromise functions of the immune system and lead to acute pancreatitis, particularly in individuals with underlying pancreatic damage.

Over time, alcohol misuse, including repeated episodes of binge drinking, contributes to liver and other chronic diseases as well as increases in risk of several types of cancer, including oesophageal, liver, breast, and colorectal cancers.

It’s heartening, though, that the government of Uganda has since taken full responsibility for the musician’s treatment in Boston in the United States, from singer and businesswoman Juliet Zawedee who had offered to assist. Chameleone, who began his music career in Nairobi as part of Ogopa Records Artiste, was last week flown to Boston for specialised treatment.

Chameleone has made a name for himself, in his country and the East African Community (EAC) region. There are other successful musicians in the three partner states that founded the EAC – Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania – but none can hold a candle to Chameleone’s output, most of it rendered in the most spoken regional lingua franca, Kiswahili.

In social places where families and friends gather for entertainment, meetings or other social activities, only the reluctant and shy revellers still in control of their faculties remain glued to their seats whenever the singer’s renditions that come in a baritone voice rend the air. More often than not, most find the temptation too strong to resist, taking to available spaces to appreciate the DJ’s gesture, swaying their God-given gifts to the rhythm of any selection from Chameleone’s dozen albums.

Musically speaking, Chameleone is a true East African. His career began in 1996, at the Missouri Night Club, Kampala, before he came to Kenya in 1998 to horn his skills with the Ogopa Deejays who released his first single, “Bageya”, which was followed in quick succession by “Mama Mia”, “Mambo Bado”, “Jamila”, “Kipepeo”, “Shida za Dunia” and “Njo Karibu”, among others. His fans straddle the entire spectrum of the EAC region.

Authorities in Uganda have acquitted themselves well, pulling all the stops to ensure that Chameleone gets treated in a world class hospital. Once he’s recovered, the EAC should appoint Chameleone its cultural ambassador, in line with the EAC’s objective to strengthen cultural ties among its partner states. 

— The writer is the Executive Director of the Kenya National Civil Society Centre-