After a period of battling depression and financial upheaval, veteran musician Colonel Mustapha says he is ready to settle down, get married and start a family.
Colonel Mustapha caught the attention of Kenyans when a picture of him working on a construction site went viral.
The once flamboyant entertainer looked a shadow of his former self as he struggled to make ends meet.
His sorry state sparked mixed reactions from Kenyans who wanted to know what could have caused his fall from the pinnacle of stardom to the hoi polloi.
When he went viral, Mustafa was brave enough to come out and own up to his sorry state.
He revealed that he had gone broke after his mother was diagnosed with lymphoma cancer, which left him financially devastated as he spent every penny on her medication.
With his pockets empty, Mustapha had to sell his Nissan Murano and use the fortune he had made to pay his mother’s medical bills.
The diagnosis came in 2020 when the country was on lockdown and Mustapha had to go to shows.
As the sad news echoed in the ears of concerned Kenyans, a crowdfunding initiative was immediately launched, raising over a million shillings.
Fighting back tears, Mustapha confessed that he saw God because he never expected Kenyans to be so loving and caring about his situation.
The singer spent most of the money Kenyans gave him on his mother’s medical bills, but he now says she is getting better every day, giving him a sigh of relief. As a result, Mustapha now wants to focus on himself.
“It was a lymphoma, mum had a lymphoma on her left kidney. It was a growth of about 10 centimetres. It’s been largely removed, I’d say what’s left of it is 2.5 per cent,” he updates.
Mustapha has never been in a romantic relationship since his mother’s diagnosis, and this, he says, has left him feeling lonely.
“I have been lonely for years now, mentally not well, fighting depression. I could not even have a girlfriend during that time. The feeling was not there. I lost everything. But now that my mum is doing well, I think it’s time for me to get myself together so that I can at least give people good music and also have a family, because I don’t have one yet,” Mustapha opens up.
He says his past relationships have been tumultuous, but he is wiser now as he sets his sights on treading the romantic field again.
Mustapha’s last public relationship was with socialite Noti Flow.
Although his life isn’t as comfortable as it once was, Mustapha doesn’t think that will stop him from finding the right woman to settle down with.
By Sinda Matiko