Nairobi News

Celebrated Kenyan musician Wahu Kagwi finally issued a statement after being body shamed online for gaining weight following her recent pregnancy and giving birth in October 2022.

In her statement, she called out her shamers who she said were mostly women but ended up being pleased that those who shut down the shamers were women as well.

The shaming began earlier this week after she posted a photo of herself on social media, speaking during a Talanta Hela technical committee meeting where she and several other renowned Kenyans in the creative industry were recently appointed by Youth Affairs, Sports and Arts Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba. With the photo, she shared that it had been their first ever meeting with CS Namwamba and she was excited by what the future held for her.

Also read: Wahu’s teenage daughter Tumiso defends mum against body shamers

However, many in her comment section pointed out how big she had gotten after her third pregnancy, a far cry from the petite figure she had for the longest time in her music career. Hours later, her eldest daughter, Tumiso, defended her against the body shamers, telling them that it was, “really sad that it’s mostly women talking about her body, honestly expected better from us and she literally just had a baby…you guys need to grow up fr (for real).”

In her February 21, 2023, statement, Wahu also encouraged those who had encountered body shaming before, advising them that what shamers say is a reflection of them and not their targets.

“Do yesterday I posted a picture of myself during the 1st joint committee meeting under the Talanta Hela initiative, saying how excited I was about where we’re going….but, what took precedence on that is the amount of weight that I’ve gained 😏😄. Sure, I have added a lot of weight-.22.5kgs to be exact. 😄 Actually, for those who know me, I always add weight when pg. with Tumiso I added 27kgs 😄😅.

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But I wanted to draw your attention to..in the 1st couple of minutes of the post.. there were quite a number of distasteful comments. Unfortunately, many of these were by women. These were overtaken by overwhelming number of +ve comments, again, majority being by women. A classic case of good outweighs the bad…so much so that majority of the “shamers” ended up pulling down their comments. Clearly, more and more of us are leaning towards positive vibes on social media, and I thank you for this🤗

Secondly, to anyone whose ever been body shamed, remember, what the shamers say is not a reflection of you, it’s really a reflection of the quality of person they are. Wewe uko tu sawa (You are fine the way you are)…so don’t take it their negativity to heart 😏. Just for the record, I’m not posting this because I’m upset. Ziii. Unajua, ukijijua (you know, if you know yourself), not many external things can get to you. I’m sharing this for us to take note that there is hope for a more positive living environment and also to encourage anyone who’s been a victim of any kind of hate otherwise laleni fiti 🤗🤗 (sleep well),” said Wahu Kagwi.

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