‘I’m mothering nations’ – Emmy Kosgei explains her definition of motherhood

Society today has very poor messaging around the complexity of motherhood according to Nigerian-based gospel singer Emmy Kosgei.

Speaking to Lynn Ngugi, the songstress elaborated on her definition of motherhood saying she is mothering nations and refuses to be defined by the societal narratives of what being a mother entails.

Emmy Kosgei stated that societal stereotypes around motherhood are also damaging in different ways since they view women as objects meant to carry children and fathers are completely excluded from this conversation.

“It is subjecting women. I am not an object. Both men and women are not objects. No law says you must do this to fulfil this. We have single mothers out there without husbands, what do you tell them? We have people that decided they don’t want to have kids at all. Some have had kids and handed them over to other people for upbringing,” Emmy Kosgei stated.

According to her, there is more to being a mother than going through childbirth and that is her situation. She said while the pressure to give birth was overwhelming for her, she was able to overcome that.

“You look at people, you don’t know why they are doing something and then you start judging them. People are going through a lot. You cannot judge them. You can’t assume that motherhood is giving birth physically. Motherhood is a role, it is an office. It is a wide range of things. Some people have just limited it to one thing,” she said.

Emmy Kosgei defined motherhood as nurturing beyond biological ties. For her, she said she is viewed as a mother in her church by both men and women some even older than her because it’s a calling.

She noted that she also extends maternal care through mentorship programmes for young women and families in her community and the church.

“I am raising more kids than I can even tell. I am educating and feeding so many kids. I am mothering old and young women at our church.

Further, she said that through her marriage to Apostle Anselm Madubuko, she has embraced the personal experience of being a mother to his three children and grandchildren.

“By the time we married, my husband had three children: two daughters and a son. And grandchildren. they all call me a mother. If I go back to the house now, they will all come to me. That is the kind of mindset that we have,” she noted.