#MCM: Kelvin Mwangi a.k.a Shaniqwa, how he transformed to ‘screen siren’ Shaniqwa

By Sheila Kimani (@Sheilakimm)

Many know him for his witty character as Shaniqwa on KTN’s show Jameni but, would pass him in town thanks to his real life as Kelvin Mwangi. However, behind the drama and entertainment, there is more that people don’t know.

Born in Thika Kenya, Kelvin was the first born with two younger brothers who looked up to him for life lessons while growing up. For his High School education, he attended Nyangwa Boys in Mbeere County after which he was braced to attend higher learning.

Unfortunately, during his transition from High school, his family went through a rocky phase that forced them to move back to Mwea County where he would help around the family to make ends meet.

His love for the arts saw him hassle tirelessly for months after which he scored his first audition with the Mabingwa Players theatre and took up a professional acting career.

During this time he played different character in the Kenyan syllabus set book series which horned his skill, but thing took a twist when the set books tour came to an end.

At some point when the roles seemed hard to find, Kelvin took up a job as one of the ‘matatu soupers’ in Eastlands. His job involved painting and sticking graffiti on the trendy matatus. Unfortunately, the government banned the matatu culture, and he had to start finding theatre roles through which he would make a living.

Fortunately he was lucky to get supporting roles on local productions such as Mheshimiwa and Comedy Corner.

Late last year (November 2014) he scored an audition for the Jameni show and in an impressive twist of events, his character “Shaniqua” came to life. To date Shaniqwa is popular for her socialite, diva antics and above all her ghetto phrase Nitaku-murder.

Thanks for his courage to try something new and out of the box, Kelvin inspires many youths to step out of their comfort zones and be the best they can be. Who knows, they could be stepping into the fame zone just like he did.

Check ‘her’ out on one of the Jameni episodes.