Chibalonza sister making a mark in gospel music

By Nanjinia Wamuswa

When her older sister, the late Angela Chibalonza, recruited Tete Runiga to join her gospel music band in June 2007, she happily left her ancestral home in Congo to join Angela’s Furaha Ya Kipawa Band based in Nairobi.

Like her sister, she had a calling to minister through music and was determined to use the opportunity to exploit and hone her talents.

"I had just landed in the right place, the right hands and at the right time," Tete recalls. She was then 19, had just completed secondary school and was seriously involved in gospel music, performing regularly at the Sinai Temple in Congo.

Tete Runiga’s album Nimepata Rafiki made her an instant celebrity. Photo: Nanjinia Wamuswa/Standard

As fate would have it, Angela died in a grisly road accident along the Nakuru-Nairobi Highway after performing at Egerton University, Njoro. Her death came three months after Tete had joined the band.

"It was the worst moment in my entire life. Angela died when I needed her most. It was a massive blow that affected me for a long time," she says.

Tete says Angela had a premonition of her death.

"That is why she called me and oriented me with the band just before she died. She was also working on the video for Nimekutana Na Yesu (I have met Jesus) when she died," says Tete.

Since then, Tete has been following in her sister’s shoes and steering the band to greater heights.

She recorded the album the two had been working on in December, 2007.

The album, Nimepata Rafiki, has eight tracks, Nimempata Rafiki (I’ve got a friend), Kombo Na Yesu (Jesus’ name), Inabidi (It is necessary), Nataka Kuwa Na Wewe (I want to be with you), Ndani Yako (In you) Kumisama Yahweh (Praise the Lord), Nishike Mkono (Hold my hand) and Kumbuka Matendo (Remember acts).

The album was done in Kiswahili and Lingala.

"I could not do it in English because in Congo we don’t speak English and at the time I did not know the language at all."

Shot to instant fame

Once the album hit the airwaves, Tete shot to instant fame, but she dispels the notion that her popularity has anything to do with being the sister of Chibalonza.

Her success has seen her receive numerous invitations to perform in Mombasa, Eldoret, Kisumu, Nakuru, Bungoma and other major towns as well as in Congo.

Her second album is in the pipeline but she would rather not divulge more information about it, citing piracy issues.

"Three people from Mombasa have told me they have met people duplicating my music. I just don’t know what to do about it."

Like other musicians who’ve fallen prey to piracy, Tete admits she’s been hit hard.

In future she would like to record songs in English. Already, she has completed a two-year course in English language at a private institute in Nairobi.