We will stand by Mlaka —Alleluyah Band

Alleluyah Band says it will continue its tour and working relationship with musician-cum pastor Mlaka Maliro following his failure to finish his set at Octogon Towers in Mangochi during a joint performance with the band and Driemo on Friday.

In a widely circulating video which The Nation has seen, the musician can be seen clearly struggling to perform, singing off key and barely standing on his feet. Some patrons can be heard asking the musician to get off stage.

But in an interview, Alleluyah Band manager Paul Subiri said Mlaka had a poor show because he had malaria and had earlier informed the band of his illness.

“When time came for him to perform, I asked him if he was comfortable and he said he would try. As we all saw, that was not the case. The illness took its toll on him,” he said.

Subiri said when he went to the tour bus where the musician was resting, he saw that Mlaka was not feeling well.

He said as a band, they are disappointed with the narrative on social media which alleges that the Dzanja Lalemba star was drunk which he said was not the case.

“We will stand by him and will continue with our tour,” he added.

However, a patron Maury Bandawe said she felt cheated because she attended the event specifically to watch Mlaka perform.

“He only performed three songs and even during the three, his performance was not good,” she said.

As we went to press, Mlaka Maliro was not available for comment.