“Not just African musician. Everybody, even journalist, even president, even football player, even promoter. We need to do it for those people who suffer, who don’t have food or security. We need everybody to denounce it. Speak louder, talk more loudly about the situation. Not just for Congo, but all Africa.”
Jewel Kiriungi speaks to Congolese musician Fally Ipupa, one of Africa’s biggest music stars.
His music has taken brought Congolese rumba to audiences around the world, earning him the Democratic Republic of Congo’s highest honour, a knighthood in the National Order of the Leopard.
Fally discusses what it means to represent Congolese identity internationally as conflict in the east of the country fuels one of the world’s worst displacement crises.
He recognises that his global success gives him a platform to draw attention to what is happening at home, but he argues that speaking out about the suffering is a wider responsibility.
The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with tech billionaire Reid Hoffman and Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, head of the World Trade Organisation.
You can listen on the BBC World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out three times a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.
Presenter: Jewel Kiriungi Producer: Osman Iqbal Editor: Justin Lang and Farhana Haider
(Image: Fally Ipupa. Credit: EPA/Shutterstock)