Ezekiel and Esther Mutesasira win maiden East Africa Got Talent show

By Paul Waiswa

Just moments after Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei won the 10,000m gold medal in Doha, Qatar on Sunday evening, the Mutesasira siblings; 11-year-old Ezekiel Mutesasira and his 14-year-old sister Esther Mutesasira won themselves $50,000 (Shs 184 million) in Nairobi Kenya at East Africa’s Got Talent (EAGT) finale.

The talented Mutesasira siblings are children to Pastor Stephen Mutesasira and wife Julie Mutesasira, who, herself ruled Uganda’s gospel music scene for some years from 2005. Uganda, which had three of the six finalists, was simply too good for the rest of the acts from Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania from start to finish.

Jehovah Shalom Acappella perhaps became overly confident given the global praises they have been receiving ever since they were unveiled to the world. They have been around the Ugandan scene for some time, but never has the world ever appreciated their talent until East Africa’s Got Talent.

Their finale performance was predictably not among the top three. Dance Network Alliance (DNA) just got better and better with their comedic dance and they can return home with their heads held high. Rwandan cultural troupe Intayoberana voted second best while Kenya’s Janelle Tamara was the third-best act.

The judges who were unveiled on July 13 2019 included Jeff Koinenge a Kenyan TV host at citizen TV, former Big Brother Africa contestant and 91.3 capital FM presenter Gaetano Jjuko Kaggwa from Uganda. Tanzanian singer, songwriter Vanessa Mdee and DJ Contact makedi from Rwanda.