Annonciata Mutamuriza known as was was born on March 25,1954 to Léandre Rusingizandekwe and Bernadette Mukarushema. She was the last born in a family of seven. Her stage name Kamaliza derives from one of her songs Kamaliza.

She fled, with her family, the 1959 massacres against the Tutsi and lived in Burundi where she studied primary school.

In 1968, Kamaliza was sent to former Zaire to live with her aunt. She studied secondary school in Lubumbashi where she started her musical career, singing in Catholic Church choirs.

She subsequently went back to Burundi where she worked in the Ministry of Finance, a job she left after a few months. Kamaliza turned her focus to music and proved to be talented when she won a music competition in 1982.

In 1990, Kamaliza left Burundi, took her two guitars with her and joined the Rwandan Patriotic Army in the liberation war.

Kamaliza never got married but raised many orphans.