Dehab Faytinga
| Faytinga | |
|---|---|
.jpg) |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Dahab Faid Tinga |
| Born |
June 10, 1964 Asmara, Eritrea |
| Origin | Eritrea |
| Genres | World, Kunama |
| Labels | Cobalt |
| Website | faytinga |
Faytinga is a singer and musician from Eritrea. She belongs to the Nilotic Kunama ethnic group.
Born Dahab Faid Tinga in 1964, Faytinga is also commonly known as Dehab Faytinga. She hails from the Kunama people, a Nilotic community inhabiting Eritrea. It is one of the nation's recognized ethnic groups, where women and men have equal rights.
in 1977, at the age of fourteen, Faytinga joined the liberation struggle and she became a combatant during the Eritrean War of Independence until the liberation in 1991. After being given military and political training at Bilekat, she was assigned to the public administration department. In 1987 she started to work with the Department of National Guidance to set up the Kunama radio programme. She then joined the cultural troupe as a Kunama language singer. In the late 80's, Faytinga was reassigned to the public administration department in Kassala, Sudan and later Tokombia, where she was elected as member of the assembly of the National Union of Eritrean Women’s of Tokombia district.
Faytinga's mother was from the Tigrinya people, while her father was a revered freedom fighter among the Kunama people. The state of anarchy that ensued in 1942 after the defeat of the Italian army, forced him to form a military band to defend the Kunama people against the raids they suffered. He was given the nickname of 'Fighting gun' (taken from his name 'Faid Tinga') by the British administration in the early 50's. Between 1952 and 1962, he was elected enthusiastically to represent the Kunama people. At the end of the Federal arrangement he was imprisoned several times by the Ethiopian Government for his pro-Eritrean work. He was a political prisoner when the Ethiopian military regime came to power and he was freed by the EPLF in 1974 when they stormed the prison in Asmara. Faid Tinga Longhi was a hero for the Kunama people.
In 1990, Faytinga toured the US and Europe as a member of The National Folkloric Troupe of Eritrea called the Sibrit Cultural Troupe. After releasing her first album “Sala Da Goda” on tape, she toured for the first time as a solo artist in 1995. Faytinga won the 2nd prize and 1st East African women singer at the 2000 Ma’ Africa in Benoni, South Africa. It took until 1999 and an appearance at the Africolor festival in France, before she could record her first album "Numey".
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