Ernest Ugeziwe is a Rwandan radio and television personality, mostly known for his music and entertainment shows mainly on Rwanda Television and other local media houses, a career he started in 2010 while still in college. In 2016, he relocated to the US to pursue his Master’s degree, before securing a job radio with Voice of America and later becoming an entrepreneur as co-founder of Kalisimbi Entertainment Ventures. While going about his ventures, however, he met so many Rwandans; CEOs, musicians, poets, among many. As a journalist, it occurred to him that the stories behind their passion ought to be shared with the public. This inspired his recently launched weekly podcast ‘My Voice’ that aims to connect and promote talented Rwandans living in the diaspora and those in Rwanda. “Although I was amazed by all these successful Rwandans, I wondered why their stories weren’t being shared. “Rwanda has a unique past, full of lessons, and life experiences. Living abroad itself, however, is a whole other story. This generation is the only one that is lucky to have the tools of sharing those stories. By sharing stories, you can heal, you can inspire, you can educate and mostly you can change the narrative and how they portray our country. We can write our own stories. It’s all in our hands,” he says. This idea, he shares, came about in 2017. He had just finished a course that revealed to him how streaming and technology overall were the future of the media industry. “I want to use the MVP platform to continue to showcase these unique stories. This platform allows me to bring these kinds of stories to my audience. I intend to interview talented folks from all walks of life, including entrepreneurs, musicians, writers, poets, activists, athletes, and many others,” he says. His premiere episode featured sibling duo and talented gospel artistes, Precious and Pleasant Mugwiza, based in Texas who shared their respective careers, how they became famous on social media, and their views on different topics, including teenage pregnancy, and the toxicity of social media. His most recent episode featured US-based Rwandan model, Jay Rwanda, real name, Jean de Dieu Ntabanganyimana, who shared his career journey, challenges and fitness secret. “My goal is to have a platform that offers a unique perspective and brings a sense of togetherness. So many Rwandans live outside of Rwanda, but they are scattered all over the world, which makes it difficult to know what these folks are accomplishing or have accomplished. To address this issue, we launched our flagship podcast in the US, but we plan on launching it in Europe soon as well. Our goal is to reach every corner of the world,” Ugeziwe adds. To share this platform with a wider audience, the journalist is creating a customised viewing and listening experience for his audience. “We built up our own studio so that we can have good production quality, we are investing in creativity and materials to be unique, and so far so good,” he says. ‘My Voice Podcast’ is available on various streaming platforms including Spotify, TuneIn, Apple podcast, Podbean, Pandora and YouTube.
