Sheila Mutio, Priscah Matende, Milcah Kawira and Salome Karimurio; friendships forged in high school, lasting over seven years; girls standing with each other through thick and thin; amazing voice and songwriting talent. Cocktail all this and you come up with Zina, probably one of the most underated and longest surviving girl-groups on Kenya’s gospel scene.
 Zina, which means 'abundant light', is actually borrowed from 1 Chronicles 23:10 and was adopted by the group in 2002. Its meaning is what drew them to adopt the name as it encompasses their entire philosophy – to be sources of abundant light shining to all who chance to get into contact with them.
And light does radiate from their eyes as they speak of the amazing journey that has been Zina’s existence. The story stretches all the way back to May 2000 at Alliance Girls High School. The girls of Zina were then just friends and classmates, whose love for singing brought them together for occasional performances in the school chapel.
It was not until after most of the group members finished high school that they were faced with the big question – could they continue to hold their group together, and more importantly, did they need to? Already, the group that had started out with seven members now had only four. They had questions about whether a ‘high school fancy’ could actually go places in the real world. To their eternal credit, they decided to give it a go, and hold on to their dream of making it as professional singers.
Their first stop was prayer and soul searching, after which they got their parents together and informed them of the decision to pursue music, alongside school and other careers. The group agrees that this was a very challenging step. In describing the experience, Priscah says:
“They challenged us and gave us a lot of practical things to think about…asking us questions like what would happen to the group if one of us got an opportunity to get out of the country, which was very likely…”
Their parents, one of whom is a pastor, proceeded to pray for them and set them on their way. And so began their official journey as recording artists.
Zina was introduced to the music world in November 2003 at their inaugural concert held at the Nairobi Pentecostal Church Woodley. Buoyed by the large numbers who showed up and the support of their families, they got to work on polishing songs they had written in high school and writing new ones. Their first attempts at production were marred by a series of unfortunate events and challenges. Twice, their music disappeared from the producer’s offices after months of work - the second time losing an entire album. A look of sadness fleets across their faces as they speak of this dark and frustrating period in their career.
Milcah relates how it brought their songs home to them. 'Keep On Keeping On', one of their tracks, became a rallying call for them. “I couldn’t understand why God would let this happen. But then I had to remember, He is God. He deserves to be praised whether things work or not, whether we understand or not…it was a humbling experience for all of us. They had to learn how to go on, and forgive those who had been responsible for the setbacks.
Zina believes that this experience taught them to depend on God, and develop a passion for keeping Him at the centre of their work, a conviction that can be heard clearly on their debut album Changed which finally got completed mid-2006. Under their belt, they also have performances in churches all over the city and at a good number of Christian events, Stand Up and X-Treme Weekend 2005.
The ladies are all agreed on what has kept them together all this time - their relationship with each other. They point out that having a high level of trust and accountability has helped them wade through some very troubled waters. Their strong spiritual foundation has also played a big role in their ministry, and they believe that their singing and music must be based on a foundation of deep spiritual roots.
Zina is not only working on more music to minister to this generation. They also have plans to begin a mentorship programme for upcoming artists, to give back some of what they’ve learnt in their time in ministry.
Their mission statement is found in Matthew 5:16:
“In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise you Father in Heaven.”
Watch out for this group!
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