Sulu cancels UK tour

Sulumani

Sulumani Chimbetu’s second United Kingdom visit has hit a snag following failure by the promoter of the tour to meet some contractual obligations. Sulu yesterday confirmed the development and said it was too late to rescue the tour.

“The situation has become tricky and we cannot keep on promising our fans in the UK we will perform when we doubted anything would materialise,” said Sulu. “The best person for you to talk to at the moment is Stephen Chibune, my lawyer, who is handling the matter.”

Chibune said the promoter had failed to pay Chimbetu and his band as stipulated in the contract. “One of the clauses of the contract stipulates that a certain amount of the payment was supposed to be paid a month before the tour commenced and already that has been breached,” said Chibune.

“They wanted to pay on March 27, which is just about a week before the tour and in the case that as well fails to materialise, the artist will not have ample time to secure and market local shows.”  Brian Bako, organiser of the tour, said the show had been cancelled due to circumstances beyond his control.

“The Sulu tour has been cancelled for reasons beyond my control, but the Easter bash with JK, a Zambian artist, is still on. There is no further information, but we will try (to host Sulu) later in the year,” said Bako.

Sulu’s maiden UK tour was a flop due to relaxed contractual requirements. He was abandoned by the promoter before the end of the tour and had to shoulder some expenses on his own before cutting short the tour. (Newsday)