Elie Kamano

By Juliette Verlaque, June 2023. Originally published in Art Is Power: 20 Artists on How They Fight for Justice and Inspire Change.

In his two decades on the front lines of Guinea’s pro-democracy movement, Elie Kamano—a reggae singer, activist, and now politician—has been arrested six times and spent 150 days in jail. Through the power of his songs, Kamano has infuriated the powers that be and galvanized a youth movement of thousands of Guineans clamoring for change in a country marred by political instability and widespread poverty.

“Reggae is a music that never runs out of breath,” he says. “Reggae can’t lose steam as long as there are problems on the African continent and in the country. My music adapts to current events and the realities we live in.” Since 1958, the year that the Republic of Guinea declared its independence from France, he says, those realities have left Guineans “frightened, gagged, and deprived of their rights.”

Kamano grew up in a remote area of southeastern Guinea in a community of foresters. In school, he became captivated by African literature and the philosophy of Afro-centric art. “It means putting Africa at the center, that Africa is the center of our interests, and [African countries] are also the epicenter of our interests,” he said. He began listening to Black artists like Bob Marley, Alpha Blondy, Tiken Jafakoly, Lucky Dube, and Didier Awadi and says he was struck by their “engaged lyrics” and their ability to capture social and political issues through creative expression. “When you are an engaged artist,” Kamano says, “inevitably there are events in your country and in Africa that occur and that lead you to take a stand and speak out. When you speak, you necessarily become an activist. That’s what happened to me…. The initial fight that I began to lead in my music was focused first of all on the well-being and liberation of the people.”

“Reggae is a music that never runs out of breath. Reggae can’t lose steam as long as there are problems on the African continent and in the country.”

Guinea is one of the poorest countries in the world, with soaring rates of illiteracy, malnutrition, and poverty. Kamano believes that artists have a crucial role to play in raising awareness of these problems as well as human rights violations and the experiences of disenfranchised populations. “Everywhere, artists are involved in protests … brought about by the political current of their country and the abuse of the elementary rights of their people,” he says. “Their mission is to lead the people to understand and appropriate the fight precisely.”

In 2007, after Kamano released an album whose lyrics criticized the regime of then-President Lasana Conté, his fans asked him to join them in the streets. “I was at home, quietly, and the youth came to get me,” Kamano recalls. “They told me, ‘You just released an album where you denounced this regime’s bad practices, so you can’t stay at home while we are in the field.’ I had no choice but to take the risk and to lead them. Because they identified with my music, they listened to it and assimilated it, and that motivated them.”

Kamano came to understand the power of art—particularly music—in spreading ideas and messaging: “An artist first has his art as a weapon. And it is a formidable weapon because what the artist can give as a message in five minutes, the politician cannot give in two days.” By 2009, he had gained widespread recognition across the country and became a leading player in the fight for the establishment of rule of law and democracy. The movement sought to overthrow Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, who had seized power in a military coup d’etat in December 2008, following the death of his predecessor. Nine months later, on September 28, 2009, a peaceful rally calling for Dadis’ resignation turned into a scene of bloodshed and horror when Guinean security forces attacked the protesters, killing an estimated 150 people and raping dozens of women.

Security forces blocked Kamano from attending that protest, but in the wake of the crackdown he instantly knew that he had to go into exile. Over the years, he had frequently heard rumors of death threats against him by the Dadis regime for his outspoken criticism and efforts to mobilize the anti-Dadis movement. Fearing for his life, Kamano fled to Senegal with the help of relatives and lived there for the next two months.

“An artist first has his art as a weapon. And it is a formidable weapon because what the artist can give as a message in five minutes, the politician cannot give in two days.”

Dadis’ regime was short-lived. After an assassination attempt wounded him, he left Guinea, and in 2010 Alpha Condé became the country’s first democratically elected president. Kamano returned to Guinea and in time spoke out against Condé, too, as his 11-year rule was marked by corruption and human rights abuses. He frequently criticized Condé in his reggae songs and, in retaliation, was regularly subjected to censorship and persecution. After the release of his song N’Fan Conde in 2018, which was highly critical of Condé, he received a summons to the Directorate of the Judicial Police and was warned to take down the track or face the consequences. He kept silent. The Condé regime clearly recognized and feared the power of Kamano’s words to mobilize protesters— particularly young people—across the country. Kamano recalls two instances when he was arrested for his role as an instigator: once after a television interview in which he called on Condé to respect the demands of a brewing movement of trade unionists or risk seeing Kamano in the streets with the youth, and again after he organized a celebration that drew 50,000 protesters to the site of a political rally for Condé.

Kamano believes that the reach and longevity of his music is central to the power that he has amassed as an activist. His music has been streamed by thousands of listeners on Spotify and YouTube, and in 2011 he was a finalist for Prix Découvertes, a singing competition held by Radio France International for Francophone Africans. Through the timely and timeless vessel of reggae, Kamano’s words and his searing denunciations of the Guinean political elite have resonated across Guinean society for over 20 years. “There are several generations who have grown up with my music,” he says. “They know I have credibility… and there is a large majority of young people who have identified with me for a long time, with my music and my ideals.” Kamano takes pride in his long record of mobilizing the youth of his country but acknowledges that his work—and the work of the movement—is far from over: “The mission is not completely accomplished until we conquer power and exercise it in the spirit and ideology that we have assigned ourselves since the beginning.”

 Despite the reach and power of his songs, and despite his success as an organizer and activist, Kamano recently decided that being an artist and activist is not enough to effect the change he wants to see in Guinea. “I can’t go on singing forever for hungry, insecure people,” he says. “I have denounced and raised awareness enough, and I think it is time to put words into action and become a political decision-maker. I did activism, I went to the street, I did my time in prison. I rubbed shoulders with activists, presidents, and people from the informal settlements. So I decided to fight for power…. my motivations come from this endemic suffering of our people. You can’t stay in a studio to break the system. You can’t stick with a song and think that change is going to happen. At some point, you have to be at the heart of the change for it to happen.” 

In 2019, Kamano became the head of the Guinean Party for Solidarity and Democracy. In September 2020, he announced that he wanted to challenge Condé for the presidency and called on supporters to help him raise the required funds to launch a campaign. After extending the term limits for the presidency, Condé won that election, but he was subsequently overthrown in a coup d’etat in September 2021 and replaced by Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, who orchestrated the coup. Kamano plans to run for president again when the country transitions back to a democratic government.

Kamano acknowledges that his trajectory—from artist to presidential candidate—is not for everyone. “For young people who want to choose to follow my trajectory,” he says, “I encourage them, but I do not encourage all young artists to give up their careers to come into politics.”