Philly Bongoley Lutaaya

Who is Philly Bongoley Lutaaya?

Philly Bongoley Lutaaya was a popular Ugandan musician whose career began at home in the 1960s and 1970s, when he toured the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, and Japan, before settling in Stockholm, Sweden, in the mid-1980s, where he recorded his widely loved album "Born in Africa." In 1988 he became the first prominent Ugandan public figure to publicly disclose that he was HIV-positive, at a time when AIDS carried enormous stigma and infected people were frequently ostracized across East Africa. Rather than withdrawing from public life, he spent his remaining time writing and performing songs about living with the illness, most famously "Alone," and touring churches, schools, and communities throughout Uganda to spread messages of compassion and prevention, released on his final album "Alone and Frightened." He died of AIDS-related illness in December 1989. His openness helped give the epidemic a human face in Uganda during a critical period of the national response, and the Philly Lutaaya Initiative, supported by UNICEF, continues HIV/AIDS education in his memory, with Uganda observing Philly Bongoley Lutaaya Day each year on 17 October.

Sources: Wikipedia, "Philly Lutaaya" · Monitor (Uganda), "Remembering Uganda's 'Aids face', Philly Lutaaya" · International Community of Women Living with HIV Eastern Africa, profile of Philly Bongoley Lutaaya