Obat Masira: Local hero drives change through art

To young people and theatre enthusiasts in Kisumu, Obat Masira is a legend and a local hero.

He is one of the few people using the arts to pull young people in the lakeside city away from drugs and criminal activities.

When the Sunday Magazine caught up with him at Mama Grace Social Hall, he was busy training young people for theatre performances.

Less than five years ago, the social hall was eerily desolate and had become a hideout for thugs.

He is also a master of stage performance and one of the stars of Misango Arts Ensemble.

His love for art began when he was in school, something that he says advanced in 1980 when he founded Ramogi Writers and Drama Society, an organisation that promotes arts and culture in Kisumu.

Obat says the organisation started gaining traction after they started to receive invitations to perform at various institutes around the country, where they acquired awards for their hard work.

"In 1983, I got an opportunity to study Theatre Arts and Film at University of California Los Angeles, (UCLA)," he says.

A year later, he directed his first production with the Ramogi Writers and Drama Society in Birmingham, UK.

In 1985, he founded the Kisumu/Cheltenham (UK) International exchange programme with a friend.

Obat later founded the Misango Arts Ensemble at the Commonwealth Institute in London during the Pan Caribbean Theatre and Literature Conference in 1986.

"In 2006, Misango Arts Ensemble was selected to participate during the World Aids Congress in Toronto, Canada," says Obat.

Obat has since been appointed the Festac Africa Festival Ambassador for the fifth World of Blacks and Africans Festival of Arts and Culture to take place at the Mama Grace Onyango Cultural and Social Centre from May 20 to May 26.

Festac Africa Festival is Africa's oldest Festival, which came into light in 1966 in Dakar, Senegal. The festival was first held in Lagos, Nigeria in 1977.

"I made a concerted effort and justification to enable Kisumu City and Kenya to host the fifth Festac Africa Festival," says Obat.

The centre is also scheduled to host The Kisumu Hall of Fame to recognise, celebrate and reward outstanding achievers, whose contributions have impacted positively and made Kisumu great since the 1950s.