By Kiundu Waweru

Tanzanian diva Rose Muhando is a darling of many gospel music lovers. But beyond her touching songs, performed with energy that has been compared to Brenda Fassie’s, few know who Muhando is.

Take this day in Narok town a little known gospel musician, Monica Njoki, from Nyahururu approaches me to try and sell her CDs to me. On asking her which Kenyan gospel musician inspires her, she says Rose Muhando.

"But Muhando is not a Kenyan," I tell her. "She inspires me all the same," she says emphatically.

Some local gospel artistes join Rose Muhando on stage during the Kisumu concert. [PHOTOS: KIUNDU WAWERU/STANDARD]

The Standard On Saturday caught up with the Tanzanian diva barely an hour after she jetted into the country for her Nibebe Tour. She was being driven by her Kenyan manager, Victor Wisdom, in a Toyota Prado, bearing a Tanzania registration.

GUARDED AND SHY

In person, Muhando appears smaller than her larger than life personality on TV. At first, during the interview, she is guarded, coming out as shy, even self-effacing.

"People think that I have a good, smooth life; totally wrong. My life has been plagued by misfortunes from youth."

Guardedly, Muhando, in impeccable Kiswahili, recalls her childhood, and as the story unfolds, she gets emotional, carefully weighing how I take her incredible story about how she was converted to Christianity by the vision of Jesus, going against her family’s Muslim roots.

Muhando grew up in Ndumila village, Morogoro. She would attend school and afterwards go for madrasa, the Muslim religious school.

"Soon, this routine changed. A mysterious disease that left me bedridden for three years attacked me. My skin was peeling, and I had a gushing wound in my head that oozed smelly pus."

Muhando dropped out of school as her parents took her to several hospitals, but her ailment could neither be diagnosed nor treated.

"My parents also took me to witchdoctors, but no luck there. Finally, they took me home and I lay on a bed awaiting my death." But one night, remembers Muhando, as her parents sat outside their grass-thatched house, probably reflecting on their fate, a bright light engulfed their house.

"I saw a bright light. Then a hand clad in white, with a scar in the palm descended from the light and touched my wound," she pauses, eyes shining, continues.

MIRACULOUS HEALING

"Then a soft voice, exuding authority said, "I am Jesus. I have healed you. Wake up and go serve me." The light disappeared. Muhando says she ran to her parents shouting, "I am healed, I am healed. They were astounded. For three years, I had not lifted myself from the bed."

Muhando went back to school to the shock of her teachers, and enrolled in class four. She completed her primary education, but did not progress to high school. While in primary, Muhando loved to sing, she had not joined a Christian church yet.

"I did not know who Jesus was. But while in class seven, the same voice would speak to me regularly, urging me to serve him, ‘Jesus’. I became a loner as I feared my school mates would hear the voice speaking to me."

It so happened that one of their family friend and neighbour was an Anglican. On narrating her healing and the voice, the woman took young Muhando to church. The week following her first time in church coincided with Easter.

"On Easter Friday, I was baptised at 3pm, the same time Jesus, after he was crucified, had said imekwisha (It is finished). That marked my new beginning."

Muhando joined the church choir, Mama Joshi in Majengo, Moshi, where she composed and taught the choir new songs.

In 2003, Chimuli Anglican Church invited her to Dodoma where she recorded an album with the St Mary’s choir.

The same year, under the sponsorship of Nathan Wami, she recorded her first album, Mteule Uwe Macho, which went on to achieve unprecedented success in Tanzanian gospel music landscape.

In a month, the sales of the audiocassette climbed from 1,000 copies to 30,000, and it went on climbing. Young and naive, Muhando only cared about preaching through her songs and did not care about piracy. Even after being exploited, she built a house in Dodoma and also bought two cars with the proceeds.

"But that is where my problems began," rues Muhando. The church wanted me to record music with the church choir, and I was chased away; my dancers left me and because of the lies they put against me, I lost my cars and the house; I was left with nothing."

PASSIONATE SONGS

It is these tribulations that have seen Muhando compose passionate songs that people identify with, "My latest album, Nibebe is a testimony of my life."

In her favourite song, Nibebe, Muhando asks Jesus to carry her to safety; "Save me from the mouths of hungry preys; I am being persecuted because of your name; save me from the hands of bad people; people who have been my friends and praying mates; carry me lord."

Walking from Biashara Street to the I&M Bank Building, she receives smiles from people who recognise her and mellowed a bit by the attention, she talks about her children.

She is not married, but she has three children, aged between nine and 14.

"I live in Dodoma with my children. The first born, Gift Sheheba and the last born, Maxmillian, love to sing while the second born, Nicholas Winton, is quite and loves to pray."

She spends most of her time composing songs. On Sunday, she preaches and goes for music tours.

She does not mention the father of her children, but vows never to get married. Her aim is to serve God with her music.