False rumours about Kaujeua

By: DENVER ISAACS

MUSICIAN Jackson Kaujeua is recuperating in hospital, after plans got underway last week to start him on dialysis treatment. Kaujeua and his management say they have been inundated with calls stemming from false rumours that he had died.

In a statement issued yesterday, Namibia Music Industry Union (Namiu) Secretary General Moses Kairimuti responded to the rumours.
“I would like to state on the contrary that Jackson Kaujeua is alive and well and has started with treatment and is responding well,” Kairimuti said.
The singer was readmitted to hospital on February 2, after an earlier stint in December, apparently suffering from kidney failure.
The singer is currently receiving treatment in preparation for dialysis treatment, Kairimuti said.
News of Kaujeua’s health problems surfaced at a time when there is great concern about the plight of kidney patients dependent on State healthcare.
Namibia does not have a State facility that provides free and regular dialysis to patients with chronic kidney failure.
The ICU ward at the Windhoek State Hospital is equipped with a dialysis unit, but it is only used for patients with acute, reversible kidney failure, whose treatment is limited to about six weeks.
Kaujeua is a State patient.
Speaking to The Namibian yesterday, Kairimuti said a meeting between the Ministry of Health, the Swapo Youth League and a private health practitioner succeeded in getting Kaujeua the treatment he needs.
“We managed. He is currently being treated in preparation for dialysis, and is responding well to the treatment,” he said.
As dialysis is a lifelong treatment, unless a kidney transplant is done, Kairimuti said the union was trying to raise N$250 000 for his treatment.
The union is setting up the Jackson Kaujeua Veterans’ Fund, which Kairimuti said would go to assist veteran Namibian musicians in general.

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