I almost died: Kathy Kiuna recalls emotional toll of claims she hates poor people
By Valerian Khakayi, August 26, 2026Lady Bishop Kathy Kiuna has opened up about the emotional toll she experienced after facing public criticism over claims that she hated poor people.
Kathy, who was speaking at Rhema Revivers, recalled how the accusations affected her deeply, saying she struggled to understand why people would portray her as someone who looked down on the less fortunate.
“The first day they talked about me, I almost died. Why did I almost die? It is because I love people, and I am a people person, mimi ni mtu wa watu,” Kathy recalled.
“People were talking against me that I said I hate poor people.”
According to the preacher, the controversy began while she was in the United States, when her late husband Allan Kiuna called to tell her that she was trending on social media.
She said she initially asked what she was trending about, only for her husband to tell her that it was not positive.
“My late husband calls me, and I am in America, and he tells me, ‘Bae, you are trending,’ and I say, ‘What am I trending about now?’ and he says, ‘It is not a good trend,’ and I say, ‘What trend is it?’ He says, ‘This is what they are saying, ‘that you hate poor people,’ she said.
Kathy said her husband then explained that people were accusing her of saying that she hated poor people.
The claims, she said, were particularly painful because of her late husband’s background.
She recalled asking him to remind people that he had come from the slums and that she had married someone who had grown up in such circumstances.
“And I said, ‘Can you please tell them that you came from the slams? Can you explain to them how you came from the slams and I married a slam boy and they are saying that I hate poor people?'” Kathy added.
Emotional troll
Kathy said the accusations affected her emotionally, leaving her crying and struggling to make sense of the criticism.
“It tore me apart. I was crying like a child; I was losing my mind because I was asking, ‘How can they hate on a very nice person? Is it even fair?” Kathy recalled.
Lady Bishop further said that the experience eventually became a turning point in how she dealt with public criticism.
She said she came to view the experience as part of God’s process of strengthening her emotionally and helping her develop a thicker skin.
According to her, the experience eventually changed how she responded to criticism, making her less affected by what people said about her.
God told me, ‘I am thickening your skin; I am toughing you.’ After a short while, my skin got so tough, even I am concerned because you can say anything. Hiyo ni yako,” she said.