Joyce Wanjiru Karumba, the wife of popular gospel disc jockey DJ Krowbar (Karumba Ngatia), had a rollercoaster life from the time she was diagnosed with a kidney problem in April 2022.
From online fund drives to finance medication to receiving messages from strangers who wanted to donate their kidneys, Joyce went through the full circle of kidney failure care.
She went through dialysis, blood donations, matching of kidney donors, receiving a kidney, and occasionally worrying about her three children and whether her days on earth were coming to an end.
Her death at 3 am on Monday, January 26, followed two cardiac arrests she suffered while receiving medication, a family representative told mourners who packed a meeting room at All Saints’ Cathedral in Nairobi on Tuesday evening, on the first day of daily prayer meetings.
The first cardiac arrest happened on Sunday at about 8 pm. Doctors laboured for hours before resuscitating her. The second happened at around 2 am, and despite the medics’ efforts, she could not be restored this time.
Joyce Wanjiru Karumba, alias Joy, the wife of DJ Krowbar. She died on January 26, 2026, due to kidney-related complications.
Photo credit: Pool
Joyce, fondly known as Joy, is survived by DJ Krowbar and their children Toria, Riri and Imani.
The gathering was informed that Joyce received a kidney transplant on June 25, 2025 and that afterwards, she faced a series of complications.
“She was in the hospital for about three weeks after [the transplant], and then she was discharged. But then the complications followed,” a relative told the mourners.
Joyce returned home briefly before returning to the hospital in early October. Because her immunity had to be suppressed for her body not to attack the kidney that she had got from her sister, the meeting heard, her body became a battleground for many complications.
“We did get a breakthrough. Earlier this month, on January 15, she was finally discharged after three months,” the relative said. However, she stayed home for just a day because the following morning, she discovered that one of her legs was swollen. It was later attributed to a clot and an infection. This saw her stay at the hospital until the cardiac arrest on Sunday night that led to her demise.
By the time she breathed her last, she was on her 215th day with her younger sister’s kidney.
In a tearful speech at the prayer meeting, DJ Krowbar said: “Yesterday [Monday] night, I was speaking to my kids. I was telling them we’re just about to begin a journey, and we literally have no idea. And we are going to learn very many [difficult] things. I was telling them all I know is just to take one step.”
“I know for sure the rest of my life is going to be completely different, and it needs new grace; not only for me, not only for my children, for Joy’s parents, for my siblings and Joy’s siblings, for you guys who know Joy directly,” he added.
In a September 2023 interview with Lynn Ngugi, Joyce had described how she came to learn of the kidney condition she was facing. She said it started in mid-April the previous year.
“For a week, I was not feeling well. I remember talking to my friend, and she told me, ‘That could be acid.’ I even bought medicine for acid. That was on a Tuesday. By the time we were getting to Saturday, I was feeling something is not right; it’s getting worse. I was feeling dizzy, weak, my legs were so swollen, I didn’t have an appetite. So, for like three days, I didn’t eat well,” she said.
When she finally went to the hospital, the tool for measuring blood pressure recorded an error for the first three attempts.
“Three times: error. The nurse said, ‘Your pressure must be very high.’ I was taken to the casualty and laid down, then told to just relax. So, by the time she came to take the pressure again, it was 255/187. She told me, ‘Now, this is an emergency,” she said (the normal blood pressure reading is 120/80 at the maximum).
When the first tests were run, the doctor’s verdict hit her hard.
“The doctor told us, ‘From the results, I can see you have acute kidney injury.’ That was my first diagnosis. So, we asked, ‘Which medication would you suggest?’ And he told us, ‘Unfortunately, there’s no medication. You need to start dialysis immediately,’” Joyce said.
They conducted other tests to confirm the diagnosis, and the answer was the same on all occasions.
DJ Krowbar praying for Octopizzo at the launch of his second album titled L.D.P.C (Long Distance Paper Chaser) at the KICC.
Photo credit: File | Nation
Posting on Facebook in November 2022, DJ Krowbar explained the diagnosis.
“Unfortunately, in April this year, my wife was diagnosed with acute kidney injury. In layman terms, this means her kidneys are functioning below 15 percent and we began a journey that took many weeks for us to accept the sad reality: dialysis,” he said in a post meant to celebrate Joyce’s birthday.
The four-year treatment journey was sure to affect the family’s finances, and they occasionally held fundraisers to raise money for Joyce’s medication.
In another Facebook post in April 2023, DJ Krowbar wrote: “Twice a week, my lovely wife enters this room [he attached a photo] and gets her dialysis session. Today marks exactly one year since she was diagnosed with kidney failure. It’s not an easy day, but here we are. The sun has risen and so have we. We embrace our cup with faith and hope.”
At some point, DJ Krowbar had to seek the services of a counsellor for himself, his wife and their children. In the Lynn Ngugi interview, the deejay said what he picked from that counselling.
“One of the biggest lessons that I learnt from Agnes [the counsellor] was, I was seeing my wife as a patient a lot. When I saw her, I’d ask, ‘What do I do for you?’ It was Agnes who told me I was seeing my wife more as a patient instead of as a wife. Honestly, it had changed. Most kidney patients suffer. Their libido goes down. So, you find that she goes to bed, and I stay in the sitting room. I say, ‘Let me keep myself busy’. Because even if we go to [the bedroom], nothing will happen. And it’s not only us; many kidney patients go through this,” said DJ Krowbar.
The journey towards a transplant wasn’t smooth. In an August 2024 interview with Mpasho, DJ Krowbar said they had made four unsuccessful attempts.
“We have attempted the transplant a few times this year [2024]. Unfortunately, there have been infections here and there. You can’t do it with infections in your body, and so we are trying it again,” he said. “It’s going to be the fifth time we’re trying it this year. So, it’s a crazy journey, but we take every day a step at a time.”
At the Tuesday gathering, the deejay was congratulated by a doctor (who is a friend of Joyce’s) for being patient with his ailing wife.
“Having worked in a hospital, I’ve seen how easily spouses abandon their wives, especially when they’ve been unwell for a long period of time. But you were steadfast and so faithful, and you never tired. God, in His mercy, for that alone, He’ll reward you. And because we don’t know how the rewards of God are ready to us, I pray that graciously rewards you for what you have taught even the rest of us,” said the doctor.
In his speech earlier, DJ Krowbar had said: “I met the girl [Joyce] when I was 19. Now 40, I’ve known her for about half of my life.”
The doctor also noted that she was impressed by Joyce’s faith even as she battled the kidney complications.
“I have never witnessed such faith,” she said. “There’s no day she complained.”
The daily prayer meetings will run from Tuesday through Friday. Joyce’s memorial service is scheduled for Wednesday, February 4, with a funeral service happening the following day.
