Every year on May 17th, Freshly Mwamburi relives the heartbreak he experienced when he sacrificed his wealth to send his lover, Stella, to Japan for an education, only to have her return with a Japanese baby. In his famous song, Freshly recounts selling his land, cattle, and car to pay for Stella’s flight and expenses while she studied abroad because he loved her.
After completing her studies, Stella returned to Kenya with a mixed-race baby and a 4-foot-tall man, causing Freshly and his friends to be stunned when they went to welcome her back home. The song was released in 1992, and 30 years later, a viral response song by Kayte Melo, sung from Stella’s perspective, attempts to clarify what happened.
In the song, Stella acknowledges that Freshly financially supported her while she was in Japan and that she instructed him and his friends to meet her at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. She explains that she met a friend on the plane named Chung, who was with his wife and their child. She then carried Chung’s child off the plane, with Chung beside her and his wife behind him. Upon seeing Freshly, he appeared heartbroken, bowed his head, and left the airport. Stella tried to run after him, but he drove away before she could reach him.
Stella admits to writing letters to Freshly for months after the incident, but he did not respond to any of them. When she reached out to his friends, they informed her that he had already married another woman eight months earlier. Stella heard Freshly’s hit song, “Stella Wangu,” playing on the airwaves, which broke her heart as he did not attempt to understand her side of the story.
Stella accepts that she lost her love for Freshly but asks him why he couldn’t believe her and why he allowed their relationship to crumble over a misunderstanding.
