Why Peter Morgan and his siblings fell in love with Kenya

When news broke out last Sunday that the lead singer of Morgan Heritage, Peter ‘Peetah’ Anthony Morgan, had passed on, it almost felt like Kenya had lost one of their own. 

The connection between the family reggae group and Kenya has been exceptional in the past eight years.

They made Kenya their second home. From investments and interactions with key music industry players to calling Kenya a bigger Jamaica, they simply loved the nation.

As the lead singer, Peetah, as he was popularly known, led the siblings raised in America by their Jamaican father, Denroy Morgan, to Kenya in 2015.

Morgan Heritage landed in Nairobi on September 30, 2015, for the ‘Extravaganza’ concert held at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre.

Organised by Tru Blaq Entertainment on October 3, 2015, the event marked the beginning of their long relationship with Kenya.

During the concert, Roy ‘Gramps’ Morgan, joked that they intended to stay for a couple of days in Nairobi, even though they had been booked to fly out a day after their performance. A fortnight later, they were still in the streets of Nairobi.

Blogger Robert Alai (now Kileleshwa Member of County Assembly) was among the first people to raise the alarm that the group was still in Nairobi.

Fans started relating their stay to some musicians who had overstayed their visit in the past. They included Jamaica’s dancehall artist Demarco, who had overstayed due to a payment dispute with his promoter, as well as Congolese star General Defao. Defao died on December 27, 2021.

But for Morgan Heritage, their stay was different. They did not have any issues with the show’s promoter, the late Kevin ‘Big Kev’ Ombajo, who owned Tru Blaq Entertainment. They just wanted to make Kenya their second home.

In the process, Morgan Heritage strengthened its ties with key personalities in the local entertainment industry. They won a Grammy award in 2016 while they were still trying to build their networks in Kenya.

This did not disrupt their intentions of setting up a permanent base in Kenya.

According to DJ Kriss Darling of the Dohty Family reggae DJ group, it was not difficult to realise that Morgan Heritage had found a home in Kenya. 

“I feel really bad that Peetah is gone,” he says. “He was a father figure to me. In fact, I used to call him Uncle Peetah.”

Kriss says that Morgan Heritage felt like they were home from the time they touched down at the airport.

“They told me they had never felt so welcomed by a country the way they felt in Kenya,” says Kriss.

“By the time they were buying land in Naivasha to grow organic farm products, it was clear that they were not leaving Kenya soon.”

Radio presenter Tallia Oyando agrees with Kriss.

“Peetah was a funny guy and the hilarious thing was that he would tease you if you tried to take a photo of him. He didn’t like phone cameras.”

Music promoter Moses Mbasu, better known as Budha Blaze, said the reggae community and Kenya has lost one of the biggest musicians who loved this country. 

“Their connection with Kenya and Kenyans was very genuine. They had every other country in Africa to fall in love with, but they chose Kenya.” 

In an interview last year with American radio personality Sway, they said that Kenya was their favourite country out of all the ones they had visited.

“We have been to Senegal, South Africa, Ghana and Nigeria, but Kenya suits us best,” said Gramps Morgan.

“We have Ethiopia across the road, which is the home of Rastafari culture, but nowhere makes us feel at home like Kenya.”

Other than owning homes in Nairobi, Morgan Heritage also ventured into organic farming in Naivasha.

Kenya’s dancehall star Wyre was the first artist to do a collaboration with the group in the song “Guarantee”.

Recently, they worked with Otile Brown on the songs ‘Wacha Nikupende’ and ‘Some Fun’. 

Mr Muchiri is a former ‘Sunday Nation’ entertainment writer. He is now based in the UK

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