Hakika ya bendera/ Ni uthabiti wangu/Nyeusi ya wananchi na nyekundu ni ya damu/Kijani ni ya ardhi, nyeupe ya amani”- Daima Kenya (Let my flag remind me/ of my sacred duty/White for the people, green for the land, red for the price of freedom/and white for peace in Kenya) If Kenya ever needed a stand-in National Anthem, singer Eric Wainaina’s “Daima Kenya” would certainly fit the bill. Off his 2001 debut album “Sawa Sawa”, scores of Kenyans have come to resonate with the song’s patriotic message and declaration of love for the people of Kenya. “It’s my most requested song.

I can’t leave a show without performing it,” says a soft-spoken Eric who is also a songwriter and producer. The story goes that, sometime in the late 90s, a drunkard in a bar persuaded Eric to write a song in praise of Harambee Stars (who’d miraculously been playing exceptionally well). “As I set out to write the song, clashes in Likoni at the time reminded me of the Rwanda genocide. It suddenly occurred to me that I could broaden the song’s message to resound beyond Kenyans and politicians,” Eric reveals. Thus, the singer wrote “Kenya Only” in 1997. A year later, Eric paired up with Amina Noordin to translate the song into Swahili.

“Daima Kenya” went on to become the more popular version. Through the song, I wanted the listeners to remember the things we have in common other than those that separate us,” adds Eric. That same year as the country mourned the loss of 257 lives following the 1998 terrorist bomb attack, several TV and radio stations adopted it as the unofficial anthem. As Kenya approaches another election, songs like ‘Daima Kenya” sum up the need for the country to unite and remain peaceful.

“I am encouraged because Kenyans have started unifying as one as opposed to tribes. We’ve witnessed mass dissatisfactions, from doctors, teachers to city council workers strikes. This shows that we are all angry, not because of our tribe but because of what we do and who we are. This is healthy for a country; we are starting to identity the real course of our frustrations in a unified manner.”

That either versions would ever become such major hits still puzzles the singer, “You don’t set out you write something of this kind, it’s not any of my doing. I had no ambitions for the song. I just wrote a song from a simple conversation. In the course of time, it just took a life of its own.”

“Daima Mimi Mkenya” Eric’s new series of “The Metro” tour concerts commence in February at Club Silk, Legend and Sheebeen. For more: www.ericwainaina.com “The song is a declaration of patriotism. It talks about unity, an important thing.