I bring humour to crime and law

For more than 36 years, LUCY WANGUI has been on our screens entertaining and making us laugh. Her most impressive role is as the no-nonsense magistrate in Vioja Mahakamani. She spoke to NANJINIA WAMUSWAAlthough I have acted in numerous local and international movies, many people associate me more with the magistrate’s role I play in the comedy Vioja Mahakamani aired on KBC.Can you believe I started acting in this programe in 1982? I got it after the late Anne Wanjugu, who was playing the ‘magistrate’ role before landed a lucrative film deal in the United Kingdom and could no longer play the ‘magistrate’. And that’s when the show’s producer, Ken Mutahi asked me to try out the role. Lucy Wangui Fortunately for me, I was already working for KBC having joined it in 1974 when it was still known as Voice of Kenya (VoK). I don’t know if you can remember this but I was playing the role of Mzee Pembe’s daughter whom he wanted to marry off to a rich old man. Mama Tofi was my mother. Other programmes I starred in include Darubini, Mzima Duni, Zuberi Kivunja Mbavu and Vitimbi.&#12288;Difficult roleWhen I joined Vioja Mahakamani, I didn’t expect it to be a difficult role but I soon realised it was not easy. I had to learn the law so I began to attend real court sessions to learn more about the law, and to study the expressions and behaviour of judges and magistrates. I watched how they quoted the laws and dispensed with judgment. Even today I still attend court to see how they do it and learn some more. There is no end to learning.Vioja Mahakamani was introduced to educate the public on Kenya’s laws on various issues. The laws I quote in the programme are real and are applied in our law courts. So far, no lawyer, magistrate or judge has sued us or come to us to say I gave wrong counsel, including the time a ‘criminal’ has to appeal the ruling. We even use a genuine Bible and Quran to swear in witnesses.Many people have asked why we quote real laws in a comic programme but we always tell them that our main objective is to educate the public. Because law is complex, we chose to educate in an entertaining way so we can keep our viewers glued to the screen to the very end and learn something.For example, until recently, people didn’t know that sending hateful SMSes was criminal. We wanted to highlight that so we ran a programme on the issue and got many responses, which prove the programme is educative. Real lawyersIn future, we plan to involve real lawyers into the programme to spice it up.Although the programme airs on State television, the Government is not involved in what we present neither does it sanction us. We do our work with the help of directors Chris Singila and Joseph Shegu.With Vioja Mahakamani , everyone is involved in script writing. We discuss an idea and agree how to execute it. The ideas are mostly on current issues that affect our society.Once we’ve settled on the theme, we rehearse for a week then record the episode. If one of us will not be around for a while, we record several episodes in advance.The programme is humorous and it is hard to suppress laughter but I have to because as the magistrate, I must convey seriousness, especially when announcing the judgment. Lucy with cast members Makokha (left) and Olexanda. The cast sometimes make matters worse because they introduce new jokes during recording that we did not rehearse, and the temptation to laugh is incredible, but I do my best to keep a serious face. Sometimes I laugh and try to keep it away from the camera so viewers won’t see me.Wide fan baseThe best jokes are from Peter Sankale (Olexanda), Matayo Keya (Makokha), Lawrence Gwaku (Tobias Lijodi Kokoto) and Hiram Mungai (Ondiek Nyuka-Kwota). It’s hard to resist them.Being an on-screen magistrate means I must look the part so I strive to always be smart and well dressed, and I go to salon almost every week to keep my hair neat. I love Vioja Mahakamani and I want it to live on long after I have passed on. That is why we always seek talented comedians to join us. I have a wide fan base and acting has taken me across Kenya and beyond our borders to other African countries like UK and Germany. When out there, I have often been told that if l was an actress in USA, l would be a millionaire, but I am happy with what I have here.Today, entertainment is profitable business. We are often hired as a group for functions and to do commercials, and most of us now lead good lives.For instance, I have a car and have built my home so rent is a thing of the past. I have even started investing in real estate. I have managed to do all this with the money I have earned from Vioja Mahakamani.Other films I’ve acted in include Rise and Fall of Idi Amin (1981) where l was the wardrobe assistant; Sheena Queen of the Jungle where I played the old lady who took care of Sheena as a child in a tent in the jungle. Others are Flame Trees of Thika, Savage Harvest, Mugumo Tree and The Bicycle.Lucy with Joseph Shegu the producer of Vioja Mahakamani. Photos: Maxwell Agwanda/StandardI believe that, with my experience, I have what it takes to start an artistic academy and nurture talents in Kenya. Sadly, I don’t have sufficient resources. Most of us think there is magic behind Nollywood - Nigeria’s film industry, yet the brains behind those movies are not better than ours. It is all about money. Nigerian institutions and corporations invest heavily in their film industry while we don’t.In Kenya, those who dash into comedy for money fail miserably. Comedy is not only about imitating politicians or the mother tongue. A true comedian is full of ideas and his talent never dies. Take Mzee Ojwang’ (Benson Wanjau) for instance. He’s been entertaining us for more than three decades and he has never run dry of ideas.So when young people come to me and say they want to be like Mzee Ojwang, I tell them they have to find their own identify. Institutions that organise awards have short-charged us for long because they do not recognise our talent and our contribution to the country’s artistic creativity. With all these years spent acting, some of us ought to own archives of trophies. The only recognition I take pride in is the State Commendation Award l received from former President Moi and a nomination I received last year for best actress at the Kalasha Awards.I still have not given up my dream to start an academy because I want to invest in film industry.

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