Young Gospel Voice, New Motherhood and a Difficult Family Chapter

1 hour ago EDITOR

Ishimwe Vestine, the elder half of Rwanda’s well-loved gospel sister duo Vestine and Dorcas, has asked a Kigali court to dissolve her marriage. The filing at Kicukiro Primary Court this week marks a painful turn for a young woman who, in little more than a year, became a wife, a first-time mother and an independent artist.

Vestine grew up in a Christian household in Musanze District in Rwanda’s Northern Province. She and her younger sister Kamikazi Dorcas are two of six children born to Uzamukunda Elizabeth and Nizeyimana Mazimpaka. Their mother sang gospel music, and both girls first lifted their voices in local church choirs. That family faith and sisterly closeness became the foundation of a ministry that later reached homes across East Africa and the diaspora through songs of praise in Kinyarwanda and Swahili.

The sisters rose quickly. Hits such as Nahawe Ijambo, Adonai, Iriba, Yebo and Emmanuel made them familiar voices in living rooms, churches and family gatherings. In 2026 they stepped into a new professional chapter, ending a long management partnership and releasing music under their own name, including the prayerful single Itabaza. Fans saw the move as two young women taking ownership of their calling.

Vestine’s personal life moved just as fast. She entered a civil marriage in January 2025 and celebrated a larger wedding in July 2025 with Idrissa Jean Luc Ouédraogo, who is from Burkina Faso. In March 2026 she gave birth to their first child, a daughter, while the sisters were connected to concerts in Canada. In a July conversation with Dorcas, Vestine confirmed she had become a mother and spoke of the baby with quiet pride, even wondering whether the little girl might one day sing as well.

Motherhood arrived while she was still very young. The bond between the sisters has always been unusually close. Dorcas has spoken openly about how hard it was when her older sister married and their daily life of shared meals, late-night talks and constant companionship changed. For a time she struggled to eat and sleep. Family, including their mother, helped her find her footing again. That same family circle now surrounds a new baby and a marriage that has reached the courts.

The legal request comes after months in which Vestine had already spoken of deep personal strain. Last November she posted that the life she was living was not the one she had chosen and that she had learned hard lessons. She later removed wedding photographs from her social media. Those words, coming from a public worship leader, landed heavily with families who had followed the sisters’ music as a source of encouragement.

Rwandan family law allows either spouse to petition the court when a marriage can no longer continue. Both parties are entitled to legal representation. Details of the couple’s private disagreements belong in that process, not in public debate. What matters most for many African families watching this story is the welfare of a six-month-old child and the dignity of a young mother still finding her way.

Gospel communities across the region often treat artists as extended family. Vestine and Dorcas have spent years reminding listeners that God meets people in both joy and testing. Their latest independent work continues that message. Supporters now face a familiar tension: how to stay interested in the music while giving a new mother and her infant the privacy every family deserves.

Vestine remains, first, a daughter of Musanze, a sister, a worship singer and now a parent. The court will decide the legal future of the marriage. The family task is quieter and longer: protecting a baby, supporting two young women who grew up singing together, and remembering that even public lives are lived one household at a time.