Month: March 2013

Jalang’o gives off this vibe that all is hanky dory with the world. I mean, he’s always cracking jokes about all and sundry, about everything under the clouds’ breath, so it does come as a bit of a shocker when he decides to play the role of big brother and guide youngings with a rather firm hand.

Today, he was ‘visibly irked’ that he felt the need to give advice to the peopel who keep asking him how they can become famous quickly. This is what he had to say..

“Everyday I thank God for everything that I have been able to achive….It took hardwork,patience and determination.without this then you are nothing…Why all this boring lecture? I get all requests from friends and fans who would like to join the acting, theatre industry..It is good to know that you would like to join us but why arent you ready to be patient? You cant come to the theatre and think you will go on tv immediately or be on radio immeaditely..all of you who come to me or ask for the chance are always asking to be on tv or radio…

So you are not even passionate about this..all you want is to be famous. Jalas, how can I join Papa, how can I be in MALI, I want to be in Inspekta Mwala……really? Let me take you step by step of this job…The first thing you have to do is come to the theatre for auditions…there is never a particular time for auditions..they are always conducted un-announced so any budding actor must come to the theatre everyday, hoping that you’ll see audition dates on the notice board…the first step is to audition for Setbooks…then from your great perfomance on this lower stage, a Play director or producer will see you and you’ll get the chance to act in a play that is not setbook..from here your great perfomance will see you get a chance on tv…basically its one step after another…from setbooks…to plays…to tv…thats the way! When you get the chance to be on stage perform like it is your only chance, your first chance and your last chance because you never know who is in the audience watching! GOOD LUCK..REMEMBER YOU DONT HAVE TO KNOW ANYONE IF YOU HAVE A GREAT TALENT….YOUR TALENT WILL SPEAK FOR ITSELF!”

Wow, I really have nothing else to add to those words.

He has been branded a controversial journalist and blogger not because of scandalous acts but because Dennis Itumbi has unearthed some of the dirty work that goes unreported.

After recently admitting that he was part of President-elect Uhuru Kenyatta’s campaign team, Itumbi was yesterday brought to task for allegedly hacking the electoral body’s server to manipulate the results in favor of Uhuru. If you remember well, last week there rumours that the servers at IIEBC were hacked into and that’s why the electronic transmission of provisional results was halted leading to the tally of the results manually.

In an inbox message sent to the blogger’s Facebook page, an unnamed individual claimed that the blogger hacked the IEBC server and will soon be exposed in court (referring to the election petition by CORD coalition). Without distorting anything, here’s the message verbatim;

“Dennis just tell me the truth, why did you hack the IEBC server? why did you use your skill and talent to deny Kenyans their right? Don’t deny because the whole thing has been traced to your number 0724*****6, you hacked and am sure you will be exposed in court, Eng.Rege will testify and show how you helped rig in Jubilee, History will not spare, remember he who lives by the sword dies by the sword…he who hacks, will also be hacked to death, be careful and just know you will not get away with the mischief, you are a hopeless idiot, a fool without a proper job, you have no future, you hacked but we will win the case…..go to hell” Well…bring it on is all I say to you @fake name and if you mean what you say use your real name and use an account that is existent….

However, Itumbi response was not deterred as evident in a response to one of his friends. “…many before me have undergone worse threats from real people…fake people cannot be given any weight…I remain strong and shall not be distracted,” asserted Itumbi.

The 3rd Season of the Guinness Football Challenge was launched late last year with Ogopa’s sexy singers, Marya and Avril gracing the event. After the launch the organizers took the show around the country for auditions with Nakuru being one of the stopovers (check out the photos).

The show is an exciting platform through which lovers of football get a unique opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and passion for the world’s most favorite sport. But after all that, Guinness Football Challenge season 3 is just about to hit your screens. Yesterday, one of the show’s host Larry Asego leaked some of the behind-the-scenes photos with his co-host, Flaviana from Uganda.

Watch out for the show on a TV station near you. For now enjoy these photos:

I believe I was the first the write about the New Just A Band video, when it was launched this week officially on Youtube.

But, unless you attended the Argo screening at The Nest last week, you missed out on a great opportunity to be among the select few that got to watch Matatizo for the very first time. What am I talking about? Muse KE. HUH?? Read about the last one here.

Muse KE started by Lucille Kahara, is a film club targeted at an audience that is passionate about movies. They’ll be having screenings every Friday evening at The Nest. Doors open at 5:30pm and the feature of the week starts at 7:00pm. This is a FREE event.

The feature of the week is Robert Zemeckis’ ‘Flight’.
In this action-packed mystery thriller, Academy Award winner, Denzel Washington stars as Whip Whitaker, a seasoned airline pilot, who miraculously crash lands his plane after a mid-air catastrophe, saving nearly every soul on board. After the crash, Whip is hailed as a hero, but as more is learned, more questions than answers arise as to who or what was really at fault and what really happened on that plane?

The Nest is in Kilimani opposite Kilimani police station, Number 4, Jabavu Maisonettes, Jabavu Road. You can carry your food and drinks.

I believe I was the first the write about the New Just A Band video, when it was launched this week officially on Youtube.

But, unless you attended the Argo screening at The Nest last week, you missed out on a great opportunity to be among the select few that got to watch Matatizo for the very first time. What am I talking about? Muse KE. HUH?? Read about the last one here.

Muse KE started by Lucille Kahara, is a film club targeted at an audience that is passionate about movies. They’ll be having screenings every Friday evening at The Nest. Doors open at 5:30pm and the feature of the week starts at 7:00pm. This is a FREE event.

The feature of the week is Robert Zemeckis’ ‘Flight’.
In this action-packed mystery thriller, Academy Award winner, Denzel Washington stars as Whip Whitaker, a seasoned airline pilot, who miraculously crash lands his plane after a mid-air catastrophe, saving nearly every soul on board. After the crash, Whip is hailed as a hero, but as more is learned, more questions than answers arise as to who or what was really at fault and what really happened on that plane?

The Nest is in Kilimani opposite Kilimani police station, Number 4, Jabavu Maisonettes, Jabavu Road. You can carry your food and drinks.

I believe I was the first the write about the New Just A Band video, when it was launched this week officially on Youtube.

But, unless you attended the Argo screening at The Nest last week, you missed out on a great opportunity to be among the select few that got to watch Matatizo for the very first time. What am I talking about? Muse KE. HUH?? Read about the last one here.

Muse KE started by Lucille Kahara, is a film club targeted at an audience that is passionate about movies. They’ll be having screenings every Friday evening at The Nest. Doors open at 5:30pm and the feature of the week starts at 7:00pm. This is a FREE event.

The feature of the week is Robert Zemeckis’ ‘Flight’.
In this action-packed mystery thriller, Academy Award winner, Denzel Washington stars as Whip Whitaker, a seasoned airline pilot, who miraculously crash lands his plane after a mid-air catastrophe, saving nearly every soul on board. After the crash, Whip is hailed as a hero, but as more is learned, more questions than answers arise as to who or what was really at fault and what really happened on that plane?

The Nest is in Kilimani opposite Kilimani police station, Number 4, Jabavu Maisonettes, Jabavu Road. You can carry your food and drinks.

I believe I was the first the write about the New Just A Band video, when it was launched this week officially on Youtube.

But, unless you attended the Argo screening at The Nest last week, you missed out on a great opportunity to be among the select few that got to watch Matatizo for the very first time. What am I talking about? Muse KE. HUH?? Read about the last one here.

Muse KE started by Lucille Kahara, is a film club targeted at an audience that is passionate about movies. They’ll be having screenings every Friday evening at The Nest. Doors open at 5:30pm and the feature of the week starts at 7:00pm. This is a FREE event.

The feature of the week is Robert Zemeckis’ ‘Flight’.
In this action-packed mystery thriller, Academy Award winner, Denzel Washington stars as Whip Whitaker, a seasoned airline pilot, who miraculously crash lands his plane after a mid-air catastrophe, saving nearly every soul on board. After the crash, Whip is hailed as a hero, but as more is learned, more questions than answers arise as to who or what was really at fault and what really happened on that plane?

The Nest is in Kilimani opposite Kilimani police station, Number 4, Jabavu Maisonettes, Jabavu Road. You can carry your food and drinks.

I believe I was the first the write about the New Just A Band video, when it was launched this week officially on Youtube.

But, unless you attended the Argo screening at The Nest last week, you missed out on a great opportunity to be among the select few that got to watch Matatizo for the very first time. What am I talking about? Muse KE. HUH?? Read about the last one here.

Muse KE started by Lucille Kahara, is a film club targeted at an audience that is passionate about movies. They’ll be having screenings every Friday evening at The Nest. Doors open at 5:30pm and the feature of the week starts at 7:00pm. This is a FREE event.

The feature of the week is Robert Zemeckis’ ‘Flight’.
In this action-packed mystery thriller, Academy Award winner, Denzel Washington stars as Whip Whitaker, a seasoned airline pilot, who miraculously crash lands his plane after a mid-air catastrophe, saving nearly every soul on board. After the crash, Whip is hailed as a hero, but as more is learned, more questions than answers arise as to who or what was really at fault and what really happened on that plane?

The Nest is in Kilimani opposite Kilimani police station, Number 4, Jabavu Maisonettes, Jabavu Road. You can carry your food and drinks.

Walking on the streets you won’t experience any form of ethnic-fuelled hatred but wait till you log on into Facebook or Twitter; that’s when you are hit by tribalism. In fact I overheard somebody say that post elections violence was not evident physically this time round after our national elections but the post elections violence has been very evident on social media, which I tend to agree with.

With the situation requiring immediate action, NTV yesterday night during the prime time news raised a red flag on what the station describes as the audacity of tribalism by a section of Kenyans who have taken breathtaking ethnic hatred to the Internet. The TV station took the bold and unapologetic step to unmask these shameless elements.

NTV also learnt that a good number of the hate mongers are in the diaspora where they have taken to the social media from Facebook to Twitter to spit ethnic hatred. The station wondered how all these escapes the notice of Mzalendo Kibunjia and “his occasionally dormant National Cohesion and Integration Commission”.
One of the station’s journalists, Sharon Baranga, even took to the street to find out Kenyans opinions on the spew on social media and according to her, “Kenyans have just three words for purveyors of hate on social media, SHAME ON YOU.”

This comes just a couple of days after comedian Eric Omondi hit out at hatemongers on Facebook in a charged post.

Walking on the streets you won’t experience any form of ethnic-fuelled hatred but wait till you log on into Facebook or Twitter; that’s when you are hit by tribalism. In fact I overheard somebody say that post elections violence was not evident physically this time round after our national elections but the post elections violence has been very evident on social media, which I tend to agree with.

With the situation requiring immediate action, NTV yesterday night during the prime time news raised a red flag on what the station describes as the audacity of tribalism by a section of Kenyans who have taken breathtaking ethnic hatred to the Internet. The TV station took the bold and unapologetic step to unmask these shameless elements.

NTV also learnt that a good number of the hate mongers are in the diaspora where they have taken to the social media from Facebook to Twitter to spit ethnic hatred. The station wondered how all these escapes the notice of Mzalendo Kibunjia and “his occasionally dormant National Cohesion and Integration Commission”.
One of the station’s journalists, Sharon Baranga, even took to the street to find out Kenyans opinions on the spew on social media and according to her, “Kenyans have just three words for purveyors of hate on social media, SHAME ON YOU.”

This comes just a couple of days after comedian Eric Omondi hit out at hatemongers on Facebook in a charged post.

Walking on the streets you won’t experience any form of ethnic-fuelled hatred but wait till you log on into Facebook or Twitter; that’s when you are hit by tribalism. In fact I overheard somebody say that post elections violence was not evident physically this time round after our national elections but the post elections violence has been very evident on social media, which I tend to agree with.

With the situation requiring immediate action, NTV yesterday night during the prime time news raised a red flag on what the station describes as the audacity of tribalism by a section of Kenyans who have taken breathtaking ethnic hatred to the Internet. The TV station took the bold and unapologetic step to unmask these shameless elements.

NTV also learnt that a good number of the hate mongers are in the diaspora where they have taken to the social media from Facebook to Twitter to spit ethnic hatred. The station wondered how all these escapes the notice of Mzalendo Kibunjia and “his occasionally dormant National Cohesion and Integration Commission”.
One of the station’s journalists, Sharon Baranga, even took to the street to find out Kenyans opinions on the spew on social media and according to her, “Kenyans have just three words for purveyors of hate on social media, SHAME ON YOU.”

This comes just a couple of days after comedian Eric Omondi hit out at hatemongers on Facebook in a charged post.

Phoenix theatres in my eyes are one of those Unsung heroes like Makadem, who’ve spent themselves tirelessly on behalf of the arts, to virtually little or no recognition save for a select few. Seemingly. Seemingly.

Alot of the big names that vain-sounding wights like me would wanna name drop, like Jimmy Gathu, Nick Ndeda, Nice githinji et al, Phoenix theatres midwifed them into the glaring spotlight. Most recently, they opened their doors to the cast of Nairobi half life, them being the backdrop for major scenes in that captivating Nairobi narrative as written here. And oh, who can forget the amazing play John Sibi-Okumu staged there just last month, read about that here too.

Well they are back again, this time with a play aptly titled ‘Fathers’ Day’, seeing as Mothers’ day is upon us. Now if you tune in to Maina in the morning, then you probably heard today’s discussion about the ‘boy child’ being ‘endangered’ too. So yes, celebrate fathers….Moving along swiftly.

The synopsis is simple really, “It’s a cold winters evening and bitter, irascible divorcee Henry is enjoying a Scotch and some classical music in glorious solitude. He is soon disturbed, however, by the unwelcome appearance of his son Mathew, bringing with him his new girlfriend, the unappealing punk/Goth Christine. Mathew is obviously keen for a reconciliation with his father, but Henry is quite happy the way things are, and sparks soon fly—but this is just the beginning, for who should arrive next but Henry’s ex-wife, Mathews mother, Sue! As the cold night wears on Henry and Sue can’t help but reck over the ashes of their seemingly dead relationship and to their surprise the faint glow of a new tenderness develops between them, Before long Henry is facing some important decisions….”

And speaking of Nairobi half life, did you know they were nominated for the oscars, and that Wendell Pierce even tweeted about it? Wendell Who? Again you should know people!! He played Baltimore police officer, Bunk Mooreland, on the hit HBO show, The Wire. Read that here.

The play is by Eric Chappell and is directed by Eugene Oloo. As usual, tickets are 500shs but students WITH a student’s ID get in for only 300 bob. What excuse do you have? For Further information about thE, call 020 2225506 or 0729 913 425. It officially starts tomorrow, but one of the perks of being in the media fraternity is that I get to watch it tonight!! Awesome, I know. 

Recently during a Safaricom event, Papa Shirandula’s Njoroge AKA Njoro took to the stage and exhibited his rapping (or “lapping” as he would say) flairs.

Aping hiphop rappers, Njoro even grabbed his crouch with one hand and mic on the other.

Photo props: Isaac Thuku

One time Information & Communication Minister, prominent politician and media guru Raphael Tuju has filed for separation after his 27 years old marriage took a dramatic turn in 2011.

In a sworn affidavit, Tuju says that he can no longer live with his wife Ruth Akinyi Wanjare, for openly cheating on him with a young GSU officer. His other allegations are that Ruth is abusive and violent.
Judicial Separation Cause No 33 of 2013 filed at the High Court Nairobi lists Ruth as the first respondent and Anthony Ogunda, her alleged lover, as the second respondent.

Tuju claims he has photographic evidence and telephone messages of the alleged affair, listed as Exhibit RT1. Most of these is believed to have been compiled by a private detective hired by the former foreign affairs minister some months ago. 

“Sometime in the year 2011 I learnt that my wife was adulterous band (had) become very abusive and disrespectful to an extent of playing her adulterous life even at the knowledge of my children and workers. While I was away from home attending official and business duties, wherein I am mostly required to be out of the country or when I am away in politics, I learnt that my wife had a partner boyfriend who she used to commit adultery with,” says Tuju in court documents filed by Laichena Mugambi & Company Advocates.

Tuju and Ruth got married on November 15, 1986, and together they have 3 children, 26-year-old Mano, a pilot, and 24-year-old fraternal twins, Alma, who is studying for her masters in Melbourne and Yma who is working in Sydney.

In his petition, Tuju claims that Ruth has gone as far as bringing Anthony to his home in Karen, and at one point rented him an apartment in Ngong. Court documents detail that reconciliation efforts have failed, as Ruth continued with her adultery despite promising to stop. She further started to drink excessively and had become abusive.
He adds that they had been sleeping in different bedrooms for over one year, before the wife left their Karen home on February 8.

Anthony is said to have shamelessly called Tuju and his children inquiring about Ruth. On February 8, Tuju says that Anthony called his eldest son demanding to know how his mother was. Ruth had been admitted to hospital.
He is also said to have once threatened Tuju; a matter that is still under investigation.

In seeking separation, Tuju is offering Ruth a monthly maintenance allowance of KSh200,000 and to continue paying her balance of the KSh180,000 bank car loan in two monthly installments of KSh90,000. He expresses fears that if she is given more money than that, she will use it to “maintain her jobless young man”.
He is also offering to pay for any medical bills her wife may incur.

In the sworn affidavit, Tuju says that he can bear with his wife’s condition, but cannot tolerate “her young disrespectful and mannerless boyfriend.”  He adds that he intends to start a restaurant business, which he fears the wife may interfere with if the separation wishes are not granted. 

Tuju holds a Master of Arts (MA) Degree in Mass Communication from the University of Leicester, United Kingdom. He has a successful track record in the private sector as founder and Director of Ace Communications Company and has interests in the real estate sector. Of his noteworthy accomplishments he has worked as a Television Producer with several documentary films to his credit and earning the distinction of being the first TV Producer in Africa to win an International Emmy award for a TV production.

He was Producer and Director of several documentaries, Radio and TV commercials for international agencies, public sector institutions and private sector bodies. He was also worked as a columnist for Local Newspapers notably the East African Standard and as an Anchor for TV News in the late 1980s and early part of the 1990s on a part-time basis.

Props: Nairobian & Drum

So, I was stoked to write the story about Julie Wango’ombe, the poet who penned President Uhuru Kenyatta’s acceptance speech. *Jaw drops to the floor again.*

 You know the drill by now, if you haven’t read it, I’m more than happy to remind you, find it here. Well this amazing ‘younging’ has been featured on BBC. Sigh. Watch that here, we gotta give credit where it’s due. Julie by the way happens to be Linus Gitahi’s daughter, CEO of Nation Media Group. The apple eveidently, doesn’t fall from the tree.

The Government has issued notice to foreign journalists warning them that they risk prosecution if they do not obtain valid press cards from the Department of Information.

According to the Daily Nation, the Director of Information Joseph Olewe Owiti said journalists planning to be in the country for a short period of up to three months should be issued with special passes while those deployed in the country for a period exceeding three months will have to be issued with a work permit.

Foreign journalists have also been warned against making films for public exhibition or sale within or outside Kenya without a proper licence. The head of Film Services Ernest Kerich said that during the recently concluded General Election, foreign journalists applied for and were issued with press cards to cover the election.

“The accreditation was only for the purposes of news coverage and not for documentary film making. Contrary to the provisions of the law, it has come to our attention that some journalists went ahead and also engaged in documentary film making using the same press passes,” he said Wednesday.

This directive comes just days after CNN did a story about Kenyans in Rift Valley arming themselves ahead of the polls and later declined to withdraw it.