Anastancia Mukabwa — A musician leaving a mark in the gospel music industry

Written by Rosemary Wachiye

From street begging, the praise and worship Gospel singer Anastancia Mukabwa has grown to a celebrity mainly known for her hit song kiatu kivue that has inspired many.

In an interview at the west fm studio Anastancia describes her life in simple words, as one who did not have a chance to good life as such since her father died while she was still young and left them with their mother alone.

Born in the outskirts of Busia town in Western province she is a luhya from Banyala tribe. She attended both her primary and secondary education in Mombasa.

She is married to her long term husband and has been blessed with two children.

 She explains her marriage life as the reason for her getting saved.

When she got married, her husband was an Islamic believer and she could not stand the Islamic religion’s law of allowing men to marry up to four wives, so she tried to fight her husband’s move to marry another wife.

“I was advised to seek help from many places but after trying hard and none of them seemed to work out and that’s when I resorted to get saved and place all my problems to Jesus,” said Anastancia.

She went on to narrate that her husband changed his mind about marrying another wife and later on he also got saved.

Singing to her is a talent that she describes as a calling from God, as soon as she got saved she decide to dedicate her singing to the Lord.

“Singing to me is a calling from God and the words I sing come from God himself,” said Anastancia

Her first album was umenitoa shimoni, which did not hit the market as the next album, kiatu kivue but she never gave up hope in singing.

She has released songs in different languages like luhya, Zulu and Swahili. Her Zulu song, nzinzilela which she recalls to have got in a dream means that Lord receive praises because there is none like you.

Her hit song, she says is the one she sang in collaboration with the Tanzanian renown artist Rose Muhando , kiatu kivue, she recognizes Rose as her mentor who has helped her nurture her singing talent to what it is right now.

“I met Rose at one of her concerts in Mombasa long time ago, after performing on stage she called me aside and told me that God had commanded her to help me grow in my singing and she has been true to her word,” said Anastancia

The song kiatu kivue, meaning people should ieave behind their sinful lives and follow Christ, the same way Moses from the Bible was told by God to remove his shoes at the mountain after coming from Egypt.

Her other song anayekudharau siku moja atakusalimia kwa heshima she says describes her current life in reference to her past.

After her father past away they had to live hard life and at some point she had to beg for basic necessities but right now she is happy that those who looked down upon her right now respect her for what she has become.

“I am happy for what God has done for me he took me from nothing to what I am today and I just want to tell those who feel discouraged by their current lifestyle not to worry because as an example God can change you from nothing to something,” said Anastancia.