Gilad Millo's 21-year dream of becoming a Kenyan finally fulfilled

Pop musician Gilad Millo, who is a former Israeli diplomat, is now officially a Kenyan.

Gilad on Tuesday broke the news to his fans that he had officially acquired his citizenship, this coming six years after he applied for the document recognizing him as a Kenyan citizen.

The Sema Milele singer first came to the country 21 years ago before becoming the Deputy Head of Mission at the Israeli Embassy in Kenya and instantly fell in love with the nation.

“It has been 21 years since I first came to Kenya ❤ and 6 years since I applied for my Kenyan Citizenship ???????? Now it is finally official ???????? NAJIVUNIA KUWA MKENYA ???? #GodIsGood,” he posted on his social media pages.

The 51-year-old, who was born in Jerusalem, released his first song Sema Milele, done in Swahili, in October 2015 and he has not looked back since and won over a sizeable audience.

“Many couldn’t believe Gilad was really singing because few white people in Kenya speak Kiswahili,” Kenyan singer Wendy Kimani, who duets with Gilad on Unajua, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in 2015.

He once said, during an interview with the Standard Digital that learning Kiswahili was critical to him as he sought to become part of the Kenyan local community.

Gilad first set foot in Kenya as a backpacker in 1996, returned in 2002 as the Israeli government spokesman after the Kikambala terror attacks targeting Israeli tourists before coming back as the deputy ambassador of Israel to Kenya in 2003.

He left the Israeli Foreign Ministry in 2008 before settling with his family in Nairobi permanently and he now engages in large-scale onion farming in Kajiado County.