Up close and personal with Abel Mutua

At the age of 28, ‘Freddie’ has seen it all and can speak of the fun times and the hard times all through his showbiz quest. As he celebrated his birthday in September, he poured his heart out to his close family and production partners at a get-together, during which he was presented with two birthday cakes.

With a production company that creates and produces local shows under his leadership, Abel Mutua’s breakthrough into the Kenyan showbiz industry happened during his days as an actor in Tahidi High. It was in this local production that his role as Freddie saw him grab the audience’s attention and amass fans from across the country.

Rebellious and always in trouble, Freddie executed his role with precision and prowess for years. It was during this time that he learnt and mastered the art of acting and experienced what it was like to be on set.

He had auditioned for the role, alongside soon-to-be household characters, the likes of OJ, Tanya and Shish, who were his cast mates but have since moved on to different ventures and platforms across Kenyan showbiz.

“Tahidi High was a great learning experience, but I had to be a good student, learn the ropes and move on,” he recalls.

As the script would have it, the Tahidi High cast needed to keep changing with each ‘class’ graduating, and after his ‘student’ years were done, Abel turned to his more comic side in order to remain relevant.

First, he tried his hand at the Top Comic Show, a concept developed by Churchill Ndambuki in the quest to identify a new breed of comedians. The winner would go ahead to win a pickup truck and launch their comedy career, and many aspiring comedians showed up ready to crack a rib and pick a win.

After successfully going through the different stages of auditions, Abel was set for the finals. Sadly, a few days to the finals, he lost his mother, dealing a major blow to his preparations.

The producer encouraged him to take some time off.

The first few months were challenging for him to deal with, but he and his wife Judy were blessed with a beautiful baby girl, Stephanie Mumbua, named after his mother.

“She was like a gift of comfort and with time we accepted that,” Abel says.

Soon he was back to business, having learnt and grasped the ins and outs of the Kenyan acting scene. He set off on a quest to start his own production company where he would help in the production of local content.

As destiny would have it, the Protel Group under Sarah Migwi came up with a comic show concept and trusted Abel Mutua and Fred Omondi with it.

“They called us up with the idea and we brainstormed on how we would execute it. Its success or failure depended on us so we gave it our best shot,” he says of the session.

The culmination of this was Hapa Kule, a humorous show that depends on local trends and emerging issues for its content.

“We always look at what’s trending, pick out the hottest and most captivating topics, and then we act them out,” Abel says.

Abel and Fred have a team of creatives who help them come up with scripts and content for their show, since they can’t individually handle all the facets of production.

“A creative team comes in handy, then talented actors crown the work making it an impressive production,” he says.

So good was their work with Hapa Kule, where Fred played the host, while Abel played a reporter’s role that they started another local production - The Real housemaids of Kawangware - a show that tells of the daily struggles by four Kawangware housemaids.

What started as a challenge turned out to be an award-winning show that has seen them scoop top actor nominations and awards in various categories.

Away from work, Abel is a family man who admits to loving his wife very much because she has been with him through the ups and downs of life. They are blessed with a beautiful baby daughter who he says is the pride of his life.