Happy birthday, Bob Marley
2004-09-17 21:37
Nairobi - The African Union said on Friday it would take part in next year's celebrations to mark the 60th birthday of late reggae legend Bob Marley, to be held in Ethiopia.
AU commission chairperson Alpha Omar Konare accepted Marley's widow's request for the pan-African body to partner in the commemmoration, scheduled for February 2005, said an AU statement.
Rita Marley visited Konare in Ethiopia on Thursday.
The festival, to be held in Addis Ababa, "will include many events such as music concerts by famous black musicians, art exhibitions and symposia of pan-Africanism and relations between Africa and the diaspora," it added.
Konare said Marley, who died of cancer in 1981, "built a bridge between Africa and the diaspora".
"His message based on unity of Africa and his struggle to promote values such as freedom and justice is today duly reflected in the African Union.
"We can give to Bob Marley only part of what he has given us," Konare said in the statement.
Ethiopia was the home of emperor Haile Selassie, the founder of the Rastafarian movement to which Marley belonged.