By BEATRICE MATERU

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Ugandan contestants, siblings Esther and Ezekiel Mutesasira, the winners of the first East Africa Got Talent show are planning to tour Uganda and give back to the community by building an orphanage.

They received a $50,000 cash prize after beating three other groups in the finale held in the EAGT Nairobi studios on October 6.

Speaking to The EastAfrican in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday, on their win, the duo, accompanied by their aunt, said they will tour Uganda and come up with projects to offer shelter to homeless children, which includes building an orphanage.

“We are planning to have a Ugandan tour, although we live in Kampala we never really took time to go around the country and that’s not only it, we want to be a blessing to other children, help the less fortunate and provide shelter to the homeless,” said Esther, 14.

Together with her brother, 11-year old Ezekiel, they said they plan to spend 20 per cent of the money to help street children and drug addicts.

“When we won I was so happy. Thanks to our aunt for believing, this gave us the courage at the contest. With the money we are now able to help others,” said Ezekiel.

In the whole six long months of intense competition, the two siblings said the hardest moment of all was the voting part, when the presenter announced ‘East Africa let’s see how you voted!’ “When that moment arrived, I always got nervous, that was the toughest time for us,” said Esther.

The brother and sister duo performed Andra Day’s Rise Up and a moving rendition of Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey’s When You Believe in the finale. Their performance lit the studio and the judges and audience were on their feet cheering.

Celebrating their win, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni tweeted a congratulatory note to Esther and Ezekiel for a job well done.

“We never thought it would ever come a time where the president will congratulate us, it feels so good,” they said.

The duo entered the competition with the support and persistence of their Aunt Gladys.

“I hesitated at first but Ezekiel was very eager, that’s how we got started.”

The competition is part of the Got Talent franchise owned by English entertainment mogul Simon Cowell. EAGT drew participants from Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and hosts Kenya.

The other finalists were Comedic Dance Group (Uganda), Dance Alliance Network (Uganda), Jehovah Shalom Acapella (Uganda), Janella Tamara (Kenya), Spellcast (Kenya) and Inteyoberana cultural troupe (Rwanda).

The show was produced by South African company Rapid Blue, which also produces the South African and Nigerian editions.