After waiting for weeks for his remains to be taken back home to Rwanda following his untimely death in Ottawa, Canada on September 17, Rwandan artist and composer Calvin Kagahe Ngabo was finally laid to rest.
The deceased’s remains, which arrived in Kigali on Friday, was bid farewell today by friends, family, and other close associates who had assembled for a funeral liturgy at the Centre Christus Catholic Church parish on October 15, 2023.
The son of former Rwandan journalist Jean-Louis Kagahe, Ngabo alias “Young CK” was studying in Canada and lived with his parents when he passed away.
Father Eugene Muhire, who presided over the funeral mass, stated that when a person dies, the Bible can help people see past their grief and into the agony itself.
“Today is the day that the Lord resurrected from the dead, and by doing so, we are reminded of the death that He bore. It is a day of comfort because neither the deceased nor anybody else present will have the final say, according to Muhire.
The priest assured the grieving that everyone will experience death and then rise to a new life; they should all have faith in their ability to do so.
On January 23, 2000, Calvin K. Ngabo was born in Kivugiza, Nyamirambo, a neighborhood in Nyarugenge District, Kigali City.
He attended Kivugiza Nursery School, Camp Kigali and Charles Lwanga Primary School, Ecole de Science de Gisenyi, King David Academy, and IPRC Kicukiro High School before moving to Canada to finish high school at St. Pius and Algonquin.
The 23-year-old musician is a member of the well-known Masamba family, which has a history of producing musicians in Rwanda, including Masamba Intore and Jules Sentore.
His father described him as quiet yet clever, going by the moniker “philosophe,” and spoke up only when his opinions were relevant. He also loved everyone, but mainly his family.
Young CK will be known for some of his songs, like “Umugabo,” “Umurava,” “Ndi powa,” and others, in which he sent various themes about his life and was supposed to be descended in the lyrics.
He spent nearly seven years in Canada before moving there in 2007. During that time, he began his professional music career, but the majority of people are more familiar with him as a comedian.
Before Young CK went away, according to his father, he was scheduled to play live (with his father in attendance) in Kigali before the end of this year.
I was also writing a song for him, but now that he’s gone, I’ll never be the same. Louis Jean Kagahe.
Ngabo’s family in Canada claims that he was not ill; nonetheless, the reason of death is still unknown, and the Canadian police are continuing their investigation in hopes of determining the exact circumstances surrounding his passing.
It is a sad day, but one to thank God for seeing a young man with such a promising future and aspirations, according to Jean Loius Kagahe. I’ve been waiting for his body to arrive at home, so today I’m taking things easy.
“My son’s death has a lot of unresolved questions. Nobody knows the exact cause of death, and we still don’t understand it. Investigating the cause of death may take some time, but we are glad that we were able to give his body some rest,” Kagahe said.
His mother Laurentine Nazinda praised the Rwandan embassy and the Rwandan communities in Burundi and Canada for helping the family. Laurentine Nazinda is a Canadian resident and had previously worked at the Croix du Sud hospital in Kigali, where the dead was also born.
Calvin Kagahe Ngabo’s remains were interred at the Rusororo Cemetery in Kigali City’s Gasabo area.
