MUHONJA

BIO

Muhonja is a boundary-breaking Kenyan singer, songwriter, actress, guitarist, percussionist and cultural advocate. A self-taught master of the Kalimba, Mbira, Marimba, Shekere and Udu drum, she brings rich musicality, creativity and powerful storytelling to every stage. Muhonja channels ancestral wisdom through rhythm, melody and movement.

Her music is a vibrant vessel of resistance, remembrance and restoration. Drawing from deep Luhya traditions and Isukuti styles, she infuses her art with African chants, proverbs, dance, body painting and sacred rituals to honour, preserve and celebrate African identity.

With powerful tracks like Unataka Nini, Uchungu Tamu, Pepea, Naambakhane, Queen of the Queens, Hekima ya Mababu, Luwere, Uongo, Africa, Kamulangu and Tsia, Muhonja speaks for the silenced thus amplifying voices of women, youth and survivors through themes of love, power, motherhood, healing and justice. Her lyrics, written in Kiluhya, Kiswahili, and English, cut through the noise and speak straight to the soul.

She has lit up international stages including Sauti za Busara (Zanzibar), SoFAR Sounds (Kenya), Women's World Music Festival (Ghana), selected for Visa For Music (Morocco), UMP Festival (Malawi), Fete de la Musique (Kenya), People Dialogue Festival PDF, Volkano (Rwanda), Old Mutual Amazing Voices Season 2 (South Africa), Hurungwe Arts Festival (Zimbabwe) and many more. Her artistic activism has seen her collaborate with UN Women Africa, Amref Health Africa, Andariya, Embassies of the Netherlands and Sweden, FAWE-Kenya, Makeway Programme, Cheshire Disability Services Kenya, ForumCIV and contribute to powerful films and documentaries that spotlight African realities.

In 2019, her global impact was recognized with an Honorary Award by Women Appreciating Women (WAW) and induction into the WAW Hall of Fame in London.

"I do not just sing - I summon!" Muhonja