Kalekye Mumo: I Want A Man Who Takes Control. Then I Can Be Submissive

Radio personality Kalekye Mumo opens up to Judith Mwobobia about her plus-size curves, a really bad day on the job and the difference between dating a man and seeing one.

Kalekye Mumo is a striking woman, the kind that owns a room the minute she walks in. I struggle to put my finger on her X factor. Is it her confidence, her smile, the way she walks? Then she speaks, and I have it: it’s her voice.

Kalekye Mumo has a voice that commands attention. A laugh that prods one to join in. Maybe that is what makes her such a popular radio queen, I think to myself as she strides through the Lion’s Place reception to meet me.

Kalekye, who has just wrapped up the Kiss 100 FM breakfast show for the day, is dressed in blue jeans, a patterned  blouse, wedge shoes and simple black jewellery. She certainly knows how to mix up the stylish and the comfortable. As we settle down at a table in the restaurant, I notice the curious glances from other diners. No doubt they’re wondering,  “Who’s that girl?”

That’s Kalekye Mumo for you. The radio host’s voice may be recognisable to millions of Kenyans, yet most can’t put a face to it – yet.

“It is always amusing to see people finally match up my voice to my look,” she smiles. “Most expect to see a much  slimmer woman, which I am clearly not!”

Like any other celebrity, the 36-year-old radio presenter is constantly in the public eye. In Kenya’s image-obsessed society, Kalekye just can’t escape the attention focused on her plus-size figure.

“I don’t have any weight issue. I am a curvaceous African woman. I go to the gym every day and my heart and  cholesterol levels are excellent. Isn’t being healthy what really matters?”

Her weight has never cramped her style, she says. What men find attractive in women is confidence. “My weight hasn’t stopped me from dating or meeting men, and if am not married, it’s only because I haven’t met the right man yet.”

Noting the sparkling rings on her fingers – three on the right hand and one on the left – I ask if she is currently dating anyone.

“Dating? No, not really, but I am seeing people.”

Dating, she explains, is what you do when you have zeroed in on your “chosen one”, while seeing people is the first step towards finding your “chosen one”.

So what kind of man does she want?

“I want a man who is comfortable with himself, who can handle a strong woman; a man who is not still looking for himself, but rather one who has already found himself,” she laughs. Oh, that laugh. Again, heads turn.

“Most of the men that hit on me are much younger, hence don’t want the same things I want. I want to settle down and have babies. My ideal man must be God-fearing, financially stable and a real man,” she explains.

“A real man is one who is in control. In my everyday life, I am always in control. I want to come home to a man who takes over the reins. I will let him. I can be submissive.”

Submissive? To a man? This comes as a surprise considering that the on-air Kalekye comes across as a free spirit, possibly even a feminist.

*This article originally appeared in the September 2012 issue of True Love