Sado Ali – A Beautiful Somali voice and advocacy of justice

Sado Ali – A Beautiful Somali voice and advocacy of justice

Thirty-five years ago Sado Ali Warsame joined Wabari, Somalia’s foremost music group that existed before the collapse of the central government of Somalia and today she is still indisputably one of the best and admired of her ensemble.

Sado became a household icon in 1975 when she appeared on the stage dressed modestly and astonishingly beautiful with a romantic song called Cunaabi (amber), a song that up to the present time, is evocatively listened by millions of Somalis. Sado´s popularity is not only due to her magnificent voice, but her pro-unity stand, political courage and outspokenness against injustices make her renowned. Unlike many of her counterparts, and with out hidden agenda she objectively opposed the practices of Somalia’s last totalitarian regime in 1980:s and for this she had been jailed twice by the then NSS, a notorious secret service organ, existed in Somalia. The first time was when she had, through a poem criticised the brutal oppression against the people of the central and northwest regions of Somalia. The second time was in late 1980:s, when she sang a song called land cruiser.

This song made her, an epitome of struggle against the injustices and corruption that prevailed in Somalia. As someone whose heart belongs to the well being of the Somali people her song depicts the huge gap between the lives of the ordinary people and that of the corrupted top echelon of the last Somali government who misused aid donations from donor countries. The message of the song was very clear as the words of the song painted how these corrupt officials went, with the donated funds, on expensive and brand-new glittering Toyota land cruisers, albeit the ordinary residents of the capital of the country had no water, electricity and other indispensable amenities.

For the last week or so a new song by the name libdhi maysid Lascaanood (Lascaanood won’t vanish) by Sado Ali has been airing in the Somali musical world. The song is so absorbing not only for its touchy lyrics and pleasant music but its content is redolent and remindful of Somali nationalism and historical facts that had delivered the Somali independence. It similarly portrays the significance of Lascaanood as the cradle of the Dervish movement, the Somali struggle against the British rule. The song expresses that pro-unity SSC regions of Somalia and Lascaanood, which has been occupied in 2007 by a secessionist militia clan, called itself Somaliland would not be part of a pretend state.