On January 2, a number of local gospel icons, and supporters of various gospel events, who were previously nominated for the Rise and Shine World (RSW) Awards, emerged winners. RSW seeks to recognise and honour people in different categories for their work and efforts in spreading the word of God, and winners were announced ahead of the international annual ceremony and gala dinner for the RSW Awards which will be held on February 18, at John McVeity Centre, Australia. Among them were Israel Mbonyi, who won the Africa Male Gospel Artiste of the Year, and gospel duo Vestine Ishimwe and Dorcas Kamikazi, alias Vestine and Dorcas, who scooped the award for Africa Best New Gospel Artiste of the Year. Last year, the duo had many successes to their name, and this year, their hard work continues to pay off as they beat other artistes from different countries. RSW also recognised gospel digital platforms, like Rwanda’s All Gospel Today, a group of people from different churches, which won the Africa Christian Digital category, and the RSW gospel supporters’ award went to national carrier RwandAir in the Africa Airline Gospel Supporter of the Year category. Other winners were Rev. Canon DR Antoine Rutayisire who won Role Model Gospel Leader of the Year, Apostle DR Paul Gitwaza who scooped Church Achievement Award of the Year and Rev Pastor Primitive Mukankera who won the Promoting Godly Parenting of the Year 2022 award. In addition to other East African countries, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and South Africa also won in other categories. Other countries include the USA, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and UK, among others.
