08 Jul 2013

Fears of safety and insecurity are slowly diminishing for the legendary guitarist as the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) prepares to build him a house.

Andries Bok lives in a mud hut, whose walls are supported by wooden blocks. MoA decided to build a house for Bok since it was his composition that popularised Radio Botswana's Molemi Ithute agricultural programme. The signature tune was hailed as tone and a reminder to the followers of the programme.

They found it fit to build Bok a house while he was still alive so that he could enjoy the fruits of his artistic talent. “God has put you on earth so that you enjoy the fruits of your labour, being your guitar and talent,” Oemetse Nkoane of MoA said to Mr Bok during the ground breaking exercise. By the look of things, the house would not take long to complete since all materials were on the site.

Like his fellow guitarists and folk musicians, Bok’s tale was a sorry one, punctuated by poverty. The Werda-born guitarist, who would soon enjoy a roof over his head was amongst a pool of guitarists who lived in abject poverty despite their popularity soaring even beyond their territories.

Ever since his birth in 1955, the dexterous guitarist never knew any trade than playing his guitar, which failed to bring some fortune to his life. To augment a few Thebes he would make out of serenading crowds, Bok would gather firewood for sale.

“Ke ne ke tshameka hela mo maitisong ke bona ma P10 hela,” Mr Bok said about meager earnings from festivals, a testament that his talent could not sustain his life back then. Narrating his plight as a guitarist whose popular music and his lifestyle were a complete paradox, Bok was thankful to constituency arts competitions which afford him a chance to make ‘real money.’

He expressed his happiness and gratitude to MoA for such benevolence. “I am very excited that I am finally getting recognised,” said the blind man who started playing his guitar in the early 70s, influenced by the old men who then played for pride and entertainment.

The recipient of the 2011 Presidential Certificate of Honour at Botswana Presidential Honours and Awards Ceremony, Bok got his first real guitar when the husband to his aunt bought him one in South Africa upon realising that he was talented at the way he played his string bass.

Though aging, the legend has not lost his touch and his dexterity on the strings still gets revelers nodding as he samples a few of his popular tracks that have been playing in Radio Botswana.ENDS