“Enjoy every single second that God gives you in life”. These were the first words that former Miss Rwanda organizer Dieudonne Ishimwe, commonly known as ‘Prince Kid’, told hundreds of cheering friends and family right after tying the knot with Miss Rwanda 2017 Elsa Iradukunda in a glamorous wedding ceremony held Friday, September 1, at Intare Conference Arena. The party started at the same venue after Rev. Alain Numa confirmed the couple as husband and wife in a religious ceremony during which the two vowed to spend the rest of their lives together. One day, he said, “I randomly wrote somewhere ‘from ghetto to bank’” and now “from single man to...,” he said pointing at Iradukunda to emphasize that he has become husband to the Miss Rwanda 2017 winner. Excitement was all over the lovebirds’ faces, and wedding goers alike, because against all odds in their love journey prevailed. ALSO READ: PHOTOS: D-Day: Prince Kid, former Miss Rwanda tie knot From leading the dance with his wife to taking over the turntables from DJ Ira, the groom and his bride showed the true definition of what a celebrity wedding looks like. Everybody, young or old, cheered on the couple in celebration their union. A star-studded wedding Prince Kid and Elsa are pretty familiar with Rwanda’s showbiz industry with their love story around the then popular Miss Rwanda pageant which Kid was organising. Prince Kid was also an artiste although he didn’t take long in music as he switched to organizing the pageant in 2014. Tom Close, with whom he collaborated music with is one of the celebrities who attended the wedding. Others include rapper Riderman and his wife, actor Ndimbati, DJ Toxxyk, Miss Rwanda 2018 Liliane Iradukunda and Miss Rwanda 2019 Meghan Nimwiza among many. Meanwhile, Prince Kid’s longtime friend Joseph Mushyoma was his best man during both the religious and traditional ceremonies. The newlyweds also took time and joined their guests at their respective tables and took photos for souvenirs. Considered by many as the most noteworthy event in Rwanda's showbiz industry, the wedding has become a topic of conversation in town. This is partly due to the couple's love story, which has been making headlines for the past few months. Their story In 2016, Elsa Iradukunda graduated from King David Academy. The following year, she represented the Northern Province in the preliminaries of the Miss Rwanda beauty pageant and emerged as the winner, defeating Guelda Shimwa to claim the crown. It is through the competition that Iradukunda met Ishimwe, popularly known as Prince Kid, who is also Chief Executive Officer of Rwanda Inspiration Backup, the firm that used to organise the pageants before they were halted. The New Times understands that the two got close in 2017 when Prince Kid’s Inspiration Backup was managing the former beauty queen’s project to promote locally made products as part of the package for being crowned Miss Rwanda 2017. In April 2022, Prince Kid was arrested on charges of sexual abuse towards the contestants of Miss Rwanda, which led to the halting of the competition. A few days after, Iradukunda was also arrested for allegedly interfering with the investigations of the sexual assault and harassment that Prince Kid was being charged with. The beauty queen was then reported to be lobbying former Miss Rwanda contestants to dismiss, through writing, reports that the accused had in any way sexually assaulted any of them, during or after the contest.
