By Sheila Kimani (@sheilakimm)
Not only is she a gospel music hit maker, but Kambua Manundu is also a philanthropist and force to reckon with in the Kenyan music industry.
Raised in Nairobi, Kambua’s childhood was all about fun and games. Unlike the lady she is today, she was a tom boy, who loved playing alongside her brothers. While attending Kianda Primary school, she was involved in school choirs and mass activities which strengthened her religious upbringing.
She then attended secondary school at Lukenya Academy where her love for music grew as she ventured into solo performances.
Despite occasional financial difficulties, she was fortunate enough to complete her secondary school after which she joined Heart strings theatre and performed in shows including ‘Family Business’ and ‘Something’s burning’. Around the same time she joined her church praise and worship team and did background vocals for top artistes like Mbuvi, Bahati and Kavutha.
In the quest for higher education, she had been applying into various universities and she finally got an invitation to the Ambrose University in Calgary, Canada to pursue music.
This gave her much needed exposure and a chance to sing alongside the legendary Angelique Kidjo in concert.
When she was done with her degree, Kambua visited Kenya on vacation, to the realization that songs from her album ‘Nishikilie’ were doing well.
Rather than leaving what she had already started, Kambua decided to concentrate on her music career in Kenya.
2008 was the year that saw her win the Kisima Female Artiste of the year while in 2009 she became Groove Female artiste of the year. These wins, coupled with her strong presence in the Kenyan industry gave her roles as host and emcee to several events.
Kambua is married to pastor and businessman Jackson Mathu.
Her drive and dedication to her ministry and talent is the reason she is our WCW today.
