From streets to stardom

By Nanjinia Wamuswa

Singer and motivational speaker PhiMiracles exist and Eric Babu knows about them. A former street boy, Babu is now a gospel artiste whose star is shining brightly.

His debut single, Hakuna Mungu Kama Wewe, sang in praise of God for rescuing him from the streets, has thrust him into limelight.

“Music is my greatest achievement bearing in mind I once lived on the streets with no hope for the future,” he starts.

He first released Hakuna Mungu Kama Wewe in Bungoma in 2008. It failed spectacularly on the market because, he reckons, it was recorded in a substandard studio. So the song, though loaded with powerful message, failed to sparkle.

“The quality was very wanting. I blame it on the poor recording equipment which was used to produce it,” says Babu.

It was only until early this year, after he relocated to Nairobi, that he found a professional studio and recorded again.

The song is now receiving the attention Babu always imagined it would get. Most radio and television stations are playing and they are inviting him for interviews.

Other songs are Nakupenda Mungu, Ahsante and You are Holy, all worship songs that largely reflect his relationship with God who lifted him from his dark past.

Babu says he was raised by his grandmother and has never known his father. “My mother declined to tell me who my father despite me asking her countless times.”

At seven, he deserted his poor grandmother for life in the streets. “I had high hopes of finding a good life in the streets, but it was not to be,” says Babu. “We had to beg or scavenge for food.”

One day he approached a car parked in Bungoma town and begged for money from the owner. The car owner was generous and gave him a lot of money. He took a mental note of the car so he could ask for more help from the owner in future. A week later while they were walking around the town with a group of street boys, he spotted the same car parked in a residential area.

Seriously ill

They went and knocked at the gate to ask for water. Instead they were given food and prayed for. It turned out the generous owner of the car was Bishop Peter Murunga. Bishop Murunga told them they were free to come for food at his house anytime.

One day, Babu fell ill and when he went for food at the Bishop’s he was retained and treated for almost a month. “Bishop Murunga said I could not return to the street in the condition I was in,” he recalls. He also told his seven friends to stay at his place.

A year later, he transferred them to a children’s home that had just been started and also got him an admission to Hope Academy, where he was enrolled in  Class Three as he was already old enough.

It was in Class Four that the music bug bit him. Babu says there was nothing more refreshing than singing and travelling. In Class Six, he had learned to play guitar and drum sets.

In 2007,  he joined Wamalwa Kijana High School, where shockingly in Form Three in 2009, his sponsors withdrew their support.

His expertise in drum sets and guitar came in handy as Babu played for various bands within the area for few shillings. He started staging one-man guitar gospel performances and taught others how to play guitar and drums. “This opened my eyes that indeed people can earn a living through music and I took it seriously after school.”

He has since been staging live performances in churches. “I am not grieving when I share what I went through, I just want to tell others God is faithful.”

To Babu, challenges he went through are mere learning experiences. The real challenge now is financing, promoting and distributing his music, which he records in Luhya, Luo, English and Kiswahili. The 21-year-old says he gets ideas for his songs through dreams. In future, he wants to administer through songs and the word. He owes his achievement to Bishop Peter Murunga.