who is Reuben Kigame?
Revered religious leader and gospel performer Reuben Kigame is a delightful individual who is revered as an icon and who has persevered through the worst of life’s storms to get where he is now. Despite being blind, his existence may be compared to that of a man who could see a world in a single grain of sand and went into battle with the conviction that he would win.
Profile Summary
| Name | Reuben Kigame |
| Date of birth | 1967 |
| Age | 54 years old |
| Nationality | Kenyan |
| Marital status | Married |
| Children | Shallom, Shekina, Shemmah and Joshua |
| Wife | Julie |
| Profession | Singer and politician |
| Net Worth | N/A |
| Disability | Blindness |
Family and Age
At the moment, Reuben Kigame is 54 years old (born in 1967). He previously admitted to being married to Julie Kigame, who is his second wife after losing his first wife (2006) in a car accident, in an interview with Radio Jambo. It’s interesting to note that Julie was good friends with Kigame’s first wife.
Julie was Mercy’s (the first wife’s) friend, therefore it goes without saying that even the kids adored her, according to Kigame.
Shallom, Shekina, and Shemmah were the names of Kigame’s three daughters from his first marriage.
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Joshua, a son, was born into his second marriage, which was a blessing. Kigame and Julie celebrated their anniversary on August 3rd. Kigame described Julie as a beautiful woman who has supported him despite his disability.
Kigame said on social media that he was “grateful to God for the love, support, and prayers of this lovely woman, Julie, possibly the only one of the daughters of Eve that could put up with a hurricane like me.”
Education & Career
The ‘Huniachi’ hitmaker studied education as an undergraduate while attending Thika High School for the Blind. Before obtaining a master’s degree in journalism and media studies, he briefly taught history and religion. He was a journalist for Radio Citizen and Hope FM in the late 1990s.
He started his own radio station in Eldoret because of his love of the media, but he later shut it down since media professionals had refused to give him a national frequency.
The root of blindness
Kigame had perfect vision when he was born, but a condition called cataracts took it away from him when he was just 3 years old and was only identified after the sickness had already progressed.
As the family and I were eating dinner, Kigame recounted, “I stretched out for a plate but my hands missed.”
Cataracts are characterized as a clouding of the eye’s lens and can be brought on by a number of conditions, including diabetes, advanced age, hereditary susceptibility, and usage of corticosteroids. Surgery is currently the most effective treatment for the illness.
Double vision, halo vision, fuzzy vision, and faded color perception are all signs of the condition.
Ambitions in politics
When he ran to become the first governor of Vihiga county in 2013, Kigame made his foray into the murky world of politics. But he fell short and finished fourth out of six competitors.
The Federal Party of Kenya (FPK) chose the artist to be the party’s presidential flagbearer, which gave his bid for the 2022 presidency a major boost. The police called off his planned presidential campaign launch on July 7, 2021, citing violations of COVID-19 containment regulations.
MCSK and the government being criticized for royalties
The musician vented his anger on social media about the paltry compensation that artists receive for their labor. Kagame criticized the government and the Music Corporate Society of Kenya (MSCK), an organization tasked with collecting and distributing royalties to creatives, and claimed to not comprehend how DJs could earn up to kes700,000, saying, “….however, I won’t be able to earn $300,000 in 11 years from tons of recordings!
His whole post said:
“I want to make something clear, and I want it to be clearly marked: if you ever learn that musician Reuben Kigame has passed away, do not let any government officials or members of the so-called copyright groups speak at my burial. It’s enough what I’ve been through with them.
“I have been recording music since 1987,” he continued. 29 albums were released, and numerous Kenyan radio stations played them every day. Almost all public events, including those hosted by police and military bands, feature the playing of my tunes.
