Last week, Kami Kabange and his wife Aisha Issa Kamana were a happy couple after their respective basketball teams won trophies in the men and women categories. The pair play for the Rwanda Energy Club (REG) men and women National basketball teams. REG was crowned national league champions after playing against Patriots in the best of three finals, taking the domestic league title, which will see them represent Rwanda in the 2022 Basketball Africa League (BAL). According to the couple, the win meant a lot to them as this was something they had always wished for many years. “We have been waiting for such a moment to happen since we started our sports career as a couple. We just wanted to share the joy and the mutual feeling of success, which finally happened,” says Kabange. For Aisha, the REG women’s triumph came with a lot of emotions as winning the trophy was a great relief for them since they are at the peak of their careers. “This was like a dream come true, we thought one of us would win a trophy but didn’t know it would be both of us. As a couple, we feel like we have fulfilled one of our dreams together,” she adds. Their story Kabange holds a bachelor’s degree in business information technology from University of Kigali while his wife, on the other hand, is a graduate of Information Technology management. The two used to play basketball back then in high school where they would meet quite often in different competitions. This is where they got to know each other, and when they finally became a couple eight years ago, it made their passion for basketball much stronger. For Kamana, she was inspired by different basketball legends locally that made her love the game. “So far, the journey has been so amazingly full of joy and different kinds of emotions from victory to failure. The best part is that we always strive to be there for each other despite all of those challenges,” she says. To them, marrying each other was a great feeling knowing that they could understand and help each other throughout their career. Besides sports, the couple also has their own respective jobs they are doing, and when it comes to training, they say, they always find time to train together. For instance, they mention that while preparing for big tournaments, something that some people who don’t know them find strange. The couple has been together since 2013 and blessed with three children, two of them play basketball in their respective schools. They have so far participated in different games both locally and internationally. For Kabange, among the games he has participated in include; Africa club championship in Angola and Zone 5 championship in Ethiopia, Africa club championship in Tunisia as well as Zone 5 in Dar-es-salaam, to mention but a few. Meanwhile, the duo state that what has kept them strong throughout their marriage is trust, love, support, and understanding of the environment in which they operate, something that has also played a big role when it comes to their basketball careers. Their dream however as a couple, is to continue playing basketball as long as they can still do, as this is where their happiness lies.
