Bongo star Ray C 'thirsting' over President Kenyatta

On this Saturday afternoon a joyful Ray C is up and about with one of her best friends. They are excited about her comeback concert, slated for Malindi, this weekend. She is shopping after having changed her wardrobe for a new look.

In fact, the old Ray C is gone.

"Let's talk. It has been a minute," she teases.

"It has been four years, a pretty long time," I pick the cue, recalling our last encounter during a dramatic press conference where she was the centre of controversy following a deal with a Kenyan promoter that had gone sour.

Back then, she had just released her last hit Moto Moto, featuring Kenya's French Boy. The song was the biggest hit in East Africa. She was the most sought-after female star in the region. She was curvaceous; hot as they come and with enviable talent and all the X-factors that makes an artiste tick.

But then again, unknown to many, Ray C had gone into drugs. She was going down. Her manager terminated their contract. And down she went with a thud.

"I would like my fans and young people to know that it is so easy to go into drugs. It starts like a joke, before you know it, you are deep into it," she opens up, nostalgically admitting that she made the mistake.

"Drugs are really bad. It starts with friends recruiting you into it. I can't even explain how it all started. Slowly, I went hard on it and couldn't do without drugs. I sold everything I had to purchase my supplies. If I was more careful, I wouldn't be where I am now," she reminisces, adding that the hard lessons she learned inspired her to start an anti-drugs campaign. "I now run a charity campaign that aims at educating the youth about the hazards of drugs abuse. My biggest focus is Mombasa youth, as drug abuse on the Kenyan coast is real," she shares.

And talking about the Kenyan coast, this is where she will be docking this weekend, with her mega comeback show slated for Club Pata Pata in Malindi, a project funded by Mombasa showbiz stable RingRing Entertainment.

She has been in studio since last year recording songs for an album that is now ready for release.

"I have recorded ten new songs and they are in my comeback plan. I did not work on collabos as I wanted people to have a feel of the new Ray C. I have also put together a new management team that is now handling my music," she says.

So what is with the story of her planning to settle down?

"I want to settle down but that does not mean I am desperate for a husband. If anything, God makes everything beautiful in His time. Truth is, I said I don't want to married to another star," she notes.

"I really admire President Uhuru Kenyatta and I have found myself wishing he was not married. He is a perfect man, my kind of a man. He is the only guy I feel love for," she says adding that had he been single, she would suggest they date.

"I thank my president for coming through when I needed all the help. Paying cash for me to go through rehab was truly from his heart and I appreciate it. I will forever remember his act," she remarks of her own president, Jakaya Kikwete - a man she fondly calls 'Baba' - who paid for her rehabilitation.