Revered man of the cloth and gospel musician Reuben Kigame is a charming man adored as an icon who has weathered the biggest of life storms to be at the place he is today. Despite being blind, his life could be likened to a man who saw a world in a grain of sand and faced the world armed with hope that he was a conqueror.
Age and Family
Reuben Kigame is currently 54 years old (born in 1967). In a past interview with Radio Jambo, he disclosed that he is married to Julie Kigame who is his second wife after the passing on of his first wife (2006) through a road accident. Interestingly, Kigame’s first wife was a close friend to Julie.
“Julie was a friend to Mercy (the first wife) so naturally even the kids loved her,” Kigame revealed.
Through the first marriage, Kigame had 3 daughters named Shallom, Shekina and Shemmah.
“Grateful to God for the love, support and prayers of this beautiful woman, Julie, probably the only one of the daughters of Eve that could put up with a hurricane like me,” Kigame posted on social media.
Education & Career
The ‘Huniachi’ hitmaker attended Thika high school for the blind and pursued an undergraduate degree in education. He taught history and religion for a short duration before earning a masters degree in journalism and media studies. In the late 90s, he worked as a journalist for Radio Citizen and Hope FM. His media passion prompted him to launch his own radio station in Eldoret but closed it down citing frustration from media stakeholders who denied him a nationwide frequency.
Cause of blindness
Kigame was born with full eyesight but a disease called cataracts claimed it when he was only 3 years old and it was discovered when the disease had already advanced.
“I was taking dinner, together with the family, I reached out for a plate but my hands missed,” Kigame recalled.
Cataracts is defined as clouding of the eyes lens and can be caused by various factors such as genetic predisposition, advanced age, diabetes and use of corticosteroid drugs. Currently, the disease can be effectively treated by surgery.
Symptoms of the disease include double vision, seeing halos, blurred vision and seeing colours as faded.
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Political Aspirations
Kigame first stamped into the murky waters of politics in 2013 when he attempted to be the first governor of Vihiga county. He however lost and emerged 4th out of 6 contenders.
Currently the musician is eyeing the 2022 presidential seat and got a big boost when the Federal Party of Kenya (FPK) picked him to be the party’s presidential flagbearer. In July 7th 2021, his planned launch for the presidential bid was disrupted by the police who claimed the meeting flouted COVID-19 containment restrictions.
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Castigating MCSK And Government over Royalties
The musician poured out his frustrations on social media platforms over the measly pay artists receive for their sweat. Calling out the government and the Music Corporate Society of Kenya (MSCK)-a body mandated to collect and distribute royalties to creatives, Kagame said he did not understand how DJs can made upwards of kes700,000, “….but I cannot make 300,000 in 11 years from tons of recordings!
His post read in full:
“I wish to go public about something and I want this marked well: if you one day hear musician Reuben Kigame is dead, do not allow any government representative or those from the so called copyright societies to speak at my funeral service. What I have been through under them is enough,”
He went on to say; “I have been recording music since 1987. Released 29 albums with daily airplay in many stations around Kenya. My songs are played on just about every public event including by police and military bands.
