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Kenya’s new father of comedy, Churchill, might go down in history as one of the most celebrated game changers in the showbiz industry.
Picking up an industry from the shell at a time when Redykyulass had fizzled out and left a void in the comedy world, Churchill single-handedly revived comedy and gradually took it into a whole new level by recruiting tens of talented acts most of whom have now turned into regional stars.
Give it to the humble guy. It is under Churchill’s tutelage that celebrated rib crackers such as Chipukeezy, Eric Omondi, Fred Omondi, Professor Hamo, Sleepy David, Karis and David the Student and others got a lifeline.
Through his Churchill TV show, Churchill has for over a decade kept the game running as he taps and nurtures talent, something he says will define his legacy.
“You are never great enough until you pass on the baton to another person who will continue with the venture long after you are gone. Over the years, I have devoted to nurturing new talent and right now, I think the record speaks for itself,” Churchill who has also employed more 20 people in his Laugh Industry company tells Pulse.
In the music and DJ sectors, respectively, Ogopa Deejays as well as the Homeboyz stables are what Churchill is to comedy. Transforming a new generation from what used to be called River Road music to the new kapuka beat, about two decades ago, Ogopa Deejays changed the Kenyan music landscape and gave it a new youthful look.
Ogopa takes the honour for giving birth to the first Pulse generation class of celebs that came with the likes of E-Sir, Nameless, Deux Vultures, Amani, The Longombas, Kleptomaniax, Wahu, Redsan, Bebe Cool and Chameleone.
At the time, many critics wrote off the new Kenyan beat and its actors terming it as a passing cloud only for it to evolve into a million-dollar venture that has given a lifeline to many youth who would otherwise be jobless.
Ogopa may not be the biggest name in town now but there is no doubt it is the inspiration behind the many recording stables releasing hits all over town.
Above many other contributions, Homeboyz’ major input was the birth of a DJ Academy and raising the stakes when it comes to events hosting.
Talking about events hosting, the name that pops in the mind is Kevin Mulei, the founder of Mo Sound, the company that is behind the most successful annual gospel awards, Groove Awards.
Back in the day, Kevin, who was a DJ, popularised gospel night hangouts otherwise known as ‘kesha’- events that used to be held at Nairobi Cinema. The gigs introduced gospel DJs and would bring together gospel artistes, which laid the foundation to the now-successful Groove Awards that have gone regional.
Kevin is now one of the most influential and wealthy entertainment players in the region, and he dines at the high table of showbiz.
His authoritative sound unit has been used to host all the grand events in the region including the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES), which hosted presidents and world billionaires two years ago.
It is argued that when it comes to events hosting in Kenya, Kevin Mulei, Christopher Kirwa as well as new kid on the block Deejay Mo and team take the lead.
We must give it up to showbiz first couple of Nameless and Wahu. When musicians have come and gone, marriages solemnised and broken, this wonderful pair has stayed put, breaking ground in such a successful way to the envy of all.
Under his sleeves, Nameless has the Best Male African award – MTV Mama (2009), a prestigious gong he received after his wife Wahu won the Best Female African award the year before.
For this couple, theirs is a story of longevity and playing the role of models, a factor that has given many hope that showbiz can really feed a family. In the same breath comes the Mwatia’s; gospel brothers of Rufftone and Daddy Owen who too have stood the test of time. And here, Sauti Sol and H_Art the Band gets a mention.
Fast forward to the 2000s where we have the likes of Victoria Kimani flying the Kenya flag high across Africa having become one of the most celebrated African singing queens.
Then there are the kings of the decks DJs Joe Mfalme and Crème de la Crème. It is true that there are many deejays doing well and if we were to take it from the top, we would be talking about the likes of John and Adrian. However, right now, Joe Mfalme and Crème de la Crème have positioned themselves as the holders of the throne.
When it comes to events hosting, we will give it to radio kings Shaffie Weru and Jalang’o. We can as well add Maina Kageni here as well as Amina and Mwalimu Rachel, the latter two being the most promising female events hosts. Every corporate and showbiz event seems to have Jalang’o and Shaffie as their fuel.
Edith Kimani
Edith Kimani is a true definition of beauty with brains who, to the surprise of many, won KTN Presenter show at the tender age of 19. The then USIU alumni didn’t expect to go far in the competition, let alone win it.
By winning the competition she became Kenya’s youngest news anchor. She’s had success in the media industry that many people can only dream of and this didn’t come out of favour but out of the hard work she revealed in a TV interview to a local station. So yes, Edith is one of the media heroes of our generation.
Wining the competition meant that she got a job with KTN as a reporter-cum-anchor. Her duties at the station were to report, interview as well as anchor news, and it is here that she formed formidable partnership with Bonny Tunya and together they anchored the 1pm news. Bonny would later leave the station in 2014 for South Africa’s CNBC.
Edith left KTN the following year to become Deutche Welle’s (DW) East African correspondent and double up as the presenter of the Eco Africa Environmental show. The show presents pressing environmental issues from Africa and Europe and provides exciting solutions to the problems. In January this year she was promoted to become a news anchor and will be mostly based in Germany where the parent company is. With her promotion to the German-based broadcaster Edith, now joins the league of Zain Verjee and Peninah Karibe who have been poached by international media houses as anchors; working at the CNN and CCTV respectively.
Janet Mbugua Ndichu
Janet is one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful, anchor to grace our screens. Her journey in the media can be traced back to 2004 where she started out as a news reader for Capital FM.
She left the radio station to join KTN where she became a news anchor. In 2009 she left KTN for eTV where she became a news anchor, producer, reporter as well a part-time host of the Pan-African current affairs show, Africa 360 for the South Africa-based broadcaster.
Here she excelled, making Royal Media notice her talent, it is reported that RMS paid Sh5 million to terminate her contract with eTV and bring her back home where they offered her the position of Senior Anchor at Citizen TV, partnering her with Hussein Mohammed.
She hosted Monday Special and The Big Question alongside Hussein Mohammed every Monday and Tuesday on Citizen TV.
After her resignation she landed herself a slot at Red Cross as the Communications and Advocacy director. Since then she has been making headlines for her humanitarian work. She is also Lifebuoy’s Ambassador.
Anne Soy
Anne Soy is the new Senior BBC Africa correspondent. Prior to being promoted to this new position, she was Africa’s Health correspondent covering health and related stories for the BBC World News and the BBC World Service.
Before joining the BBC as a bilingual reporter she used to work at KTN. At KTN from 2011 to 2013 she was a senior reporter tasked with the production of documentaries, talk show hosting/moderation, news reporting and analysis and live reporting.
She joined the station in 2005 and all through to 2011 she engaged in news gathering, human interest reporting, feature and documentary production, live reporting and interviews.
