Rapture of Comedy

He has nearly seen it all in Nairobi's Mathare Valley. Poverty, drugs, crime and imminent death. However, comedy never deserted Ghetto Radio’s Raptcha Sayantist writes PETER NDORIA

Comedy was probably a self-prescribed medication in life for 31-year old Francis Kibe, aka Rapcha the Sayantist, growing up in Mathare Valley where he was born and bred.

In his words, this was life where one moment you would have food and in the next sleep on an empty stomach.

Growing up while staring almost daily in the faces of crime and immorality is an experience he says made him strong, a hard experience of being at ‘the bottom of the food chain’.

Raptcha Sayantist [photo: MARTIN MUKANGU / STANDARD]

"We’re all hustlers, but there are three levels of hustling; the first level is for the elite or political class who gamble with other people’s lives; then you have the second class hustlers who are ordinary people like artistes who hustle with their skills; and then you have the third class hustler at the bottom of the food chain, who gambles with his own life," he opines rather analytically.

Yet disparities were an early way of life for the boy who went to St. Brigids Primary School that shared a fence with Starehe Boys Centre.

"We even used the same bridge. Difference ilikuwa kwa marks tu...", he cheekily observes.

Like his friend and colleague Mbusii, he went to Maina Wanjigi High School but they did not meet there owing to Rapcha’s rapturous conduct. Like most adolescents, he was playful and eager to experiment. Perhaps attracted by the allure of how liberated life seemed beyond the confines of school, he got into trouble and was expelled while in Form Two. Unperturbed, he opted to enjoy his newly found freedom chilling at home.

Tough times

For two years, the mirage that bumming at home was a great life turned out to be a difficult life during which he observed university graduates struggling to make ends meet. He wondered what kind of life he imagined he would have with his Standard Eight certificate. He did not need much convincing to take a second bite into the pie of opportunity, resuming schooling in Form Three in 1999 at Muguga High School.

In the two-and-a-half years, he was out on the grind, had tried out his talent as a performing artiste by entertaining people during funeral vigils and, for the first time, had a taste of what would be his bread and butter.

After completing high school, he joined numerous church drama and theatre groups around Mathare, finally oscillating between the group Talanta, Maendeleo Mabatini Youth Group (M2YG) and the St Teresa Moving Theatre where he honed his skills.

He was still a member of these groups when he went to audition for Vioja Mahakamani in 2001 but failed, largely because he did it in sheng’ while they were looking for an upcountry character at a time when accents were popular comedy.

Much later after one of his performances, he was approached by Lucy Wangui — the stern faced, no-nonsense magistrate in Vioja Mahakamani — who remembered him from the auditions and invited him for the show, but as an upcountry young man.

Hence, the character ‘Lambert Wekesa Wesonga’ was born and became part of the courtroom comedy show. Lambert Wekesa quickly morphed into a real artiste, a fact that Raptcha acknowledges.

"Hio jina imenilea", he says. (that character has literally fed me),he says. Working at Vioja Mahakamani also exposed him to a priceless oasis of experience because he worked with performers who had been in the game for decades. It is here that he learnt his comedy basics, from planning shows to the very art of performing before audiences, as they went to various entertainment spots to entertain as a troupe.

For six years, he went to this real-life school with the likes of Lucy Wangui and household names Ojwang’ and Mama Kayai.

After the 2007 General Elections, Mathare erupted into demonstrations which later degenerated into violence. He was at home when presenters from the then fledgling Ghetto Radio called him wanting to know how the situation was faring. They invited him to the station’s studios.

"The situation was so tense, I did not even know how I will get back home that day...," he remembers.

Radio job

While in the radio studio, he blatantly asked Mwaf — the then boss at Ghetto Radio — for a job and recorded a demo in his accent. They wanted something different so he switched to his street jokes that elicited the usual "we’ll consider" response from Angel (now deceased), Robbo and Marto who had invited him.

Soon, he was invited to record shows and he landed his first recorded show with Ghetto Radio, Ngoma na Mtaa in 2008 followed by his first live show Fika Mtaani. At the time, the station only had morning and evening shows. When they restructured everything, he landed the morning segment.

Having finally landed a show that allowed him to bring out the street in him, he transformed; out went the accent, in came the dreadlocks. Much as he liked Lambert Wekesa, he had to replace him with Rapcha Sayantist, but wait… where did this name come from?

He was once a member of the rap group Ghetto Boyz that even recorded a song in the compilation album Kilio Cha Haki. He was then known by the stage name Rapcha. As for ‘Sayantist’ well, he says he got it from from a game of cards with his pals. He was lucky and kept winning so one of his friends asked in exasperation, "Leo unajifanya scientist!" to which he replied, "Ndio, mimi ni scientist."

The following day he used the tag on air and it stuck.

On radio Rapcha the Sayantist is the character that bases his thinking on the street. He takes the kind of argument that would end up in Parliament but on the street level. He seeks to address issues like drugs, unemployment and immorality.

Family man

In real life, Francis has a wife and is a father of two. His biggest concern is how the youth are increasingly disinterested with governance issues. This observation has made him realise that his efforts could be better put to target the teenagers rather than his agemates, most of whom he believes are already beyond redemption.

"When we want to marry, we go back to the village and look for the wisest person for dowry negotiations, but we take the most questionable people to Parliament and expect life to change… really?"

His dalliance with theatre may have taken a backseat now that he has less time to go for rehearsals. But he has not been entirely indolent, having premiered the Raw & Uncut I at Nairobi’s Alliance Francaise in July 2009 and later Raw & Uncut II featuring Churchill. He has also worked with Juliani and Span One on Hii System as well as artistes such as Cafu, Polosa and X-Domain in Ghetto Stories.

His experience of radio was difficult, since one has to do unscripted links of up to four minutes, but it was stand-up comedy that he found most challenging yet fulfilling since one can work easily alone.

Unapologetically, he says that Sheng is here to stay despite having been turned down at various meetings where he has tried to sell his ideas.

One day, he hopes to do comedy from an African perspective abroad. Well…watch the space.