By Ogova Ondego and Daisy Okoti
Published February 10, 2015
A colourfully-painted public service matatu vehicle moves at break-necking speed, earth-shaking music blaring from its speakers, ferries passengers to their various work destinations.
This was one of the highlights in Nairobi on February 6, 2015 as Kenyan youth drawn from the music, animation and game application (app) development sectors showcased their newly-acquired creative and innovation skills at their graduation ceremony in the country’s commercial, cultural and political capital.
During their five-month training, the graduands, under the supervision of tutors from Kenya and Ireland, were said to have been equipped with skills in animation, music and digital game app design with which they produced a short film, a sound track and a game based on Kenya’s matatu public transport culture on the theme, ‘The Sound of the City’.
The showcase of completed work by the youth preceded their graduation ceremony that was held in Unga House in Westlands.
The training was conducted under Africa Knowledge Exchange (AKE), a project of Global e-schools and communities initiative (GESCI) that came into being in 2003 and whose “mission is to support governments to use and integrate technology in education and training systems for the creation of a knowledge society for all.”
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In his welcome speech, Jerome Morrissey, the Chief Executive Officer of GESCI said that the programme was motivated by the fact that the creative sector of Kenya has a lot of potential which, if well tapped, can yield so much force that can create a lot of opportunities for the youth as well as create a positive change in the society.
“Animation, music production, sound design and mobile games apps were handled concurrently in this training workshop because in this era where the multimedia society is a big part of us, these products are always intertwined. We also brought them together during the training to give our students a feel of how these separate but inter-related components of art complement one another,” Morrissey said. There is a lot of rich cultural expression everywhere in Nairobi and the challenge is to capture this in our music, animations and games and counter the over influence of foreign values at the expense of our own authentic, deep cultural stories.”
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Based on the theme ‘Sounds of the city’ that was aimed at bringing out the various aspects of urban life in Nairobi, workshop participants created works that reflected Nairobi’s urban culture, such as the graffiti and music in matatus and Africa-oriented game applications.
These areas of specialisation in training – music production, animation and mobile games – were also chosen because of the multiple uses to which skills in these areas can be put, according to Elaine Wacuka Hurt, the Program Manager of the workshop.
Saying “Music permeates all areas of the multimedia,be it in advertising, entertainment, film soundtrack or even in social events and gathering,” Hurt explained that “it is vital that the youth get the training on both how and why it is important that they come up with their own music and sound trends for our own consumption.’
In her final address to the graduates, Patti Swarts, Director of programmes at GESCI’s, congratulated the youngsters for what she termed as their collaboration, maturity and commitment throughout the 19 weeks of the workshop. She encouraged the graduands to go out and use their talent and skills and continue to build themselves in their areas of specialisation.
“You have given us inspiration through your efforts and hard work. Use the skills you have learnt to build a strong model that can be replicated,” said Swarts.
Swarts said AKE seeks to “contribute to identifying the critical link between skills development, learning and innovation as a requirement for knowledge society development. In this regard, AKE focuses on investigating how new digital creative media skills are, and could be developed among the youth in Africa.”
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GESCI says it undertakes “research to strengthen the knowledge base on the use and integration of ICT in education and training systems.”
Dr Fred Matiang’i, 
On Friday, 13th February 2015, the Supreme Court of Kenya ruled on Petition number 14 of 2014 that had been brought before them by The Royal Media Services Ltd, the Standard Media Services Ltd and the Nation Media Services.
“From the foregoing observation, and from our Ruling as a whole, it should be clear that there is in place no cogent foundation for the application filed by the 1st, 2nd and 3rd respondents (Royal Media Services Ltd, Standard Media Services Ltd and Nation Media Services Ltd.) before this apex appellate Court. From the terms of this Ruling, the Orders of which we set out below, it will be evident that no matter is pending before this Court, to be preserved by interim Orders.”
The 3 media houses defied this, forcing the CA to seek warrants from the Magistrate’s Court to switch off the 3 media houses’ analogue transmitters. The CA did not switch off the digital transmitters of the 3 media houses.
If these acts are intended to manipulate and/or blackmail the government, Kenyan consumers and the regulator, we would like to categorically state on our part that we are not bothered or excited. We will not go back on digital migration.
4. Digital migration will create more job opportunities. Kenya’s creative potential is hardly tapped. Young Kenyans interested in advancing their creative careers have a historic opportunity awaiting them in the digital broadcasting era.
The government continues to steadfastly uphold the rule of law and jealously guard freedom of the press. Kenya is open for business and let us all match forward to the new era of digital broadcasting looking forward to the whole new world of opportunity, employment, economic growth and variety in television content in Kenya.
East Africans who have often wondered how 
EAFN has also sent out a call for EAC filmmakers to submit their recent and representative works to FESTICAB. These, once again, are to be channeled through EAFN Country Representative of each of the five EAC-member states by February 28, 2015. Each state shall hand in six—2 fiction, 2 documentary, 2 short—films for competition.
The spotlight on the films made by East Africans also comes with the opportunity for the filmmakers to learn from one another in the region, understand the issues affecting the region and to express these issues through the medium of film.
An equal opportunity network, EAFN sends out calls for eligible candidates–participants and trainers—to apply for consideration for any available capacity-building opportunity.
EAFN Country Representatives are: Pappy Jamaica (Burundi Cinema Centre, Bujumbura, Burundi); Ogova Ondego (Lola Kenya Screen, Nairobi, Kenya); Tresor Senga (Mashariki African Film Festival, Kigali, Rwanda); Mary Birdi (Arusha African Film Festival, Arusha, Tanzania) and Phad Mutumba (Nile’s Diaspora International Film Festival, Kampala, Uganda).
‘A 
“Involve people who can help you in your film projects since a film is made by a village not a villager,” Makau said. “Our new production house, Kibanda Pictures, collaborated with Phoenix Players and Princecam Media. In fact, all the production equipment came from Princecam,” Makau, a theatre actor and television drama, commercials and informercials director, said.
She said that one of the challenges in the film and fashion industry is that one person wants to do everything instead of specialising in the area of their strength and leaving the rest to the others who are better gifted. She gave an example of someone who designs clothes, does the hair and makeup and does the photography as well. In the case of film she gave an example of a script writer who insists on directing, casting, producing, designing costumes and starring in the film even when people who can play those roles better than one are readily available.
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As an actor, Makau, who won the Best Actor in a Supporting Role prize at the Sanaa Awards 2014 for his portrayal of 9 characters in the play Kaggia by John Sibi-Okumu, says, “I have been acting mainly in theatre, although I have appeared in a few television series like WARIDI and SAINTS. Bruce.”
Godwin Otuoma,an actor and film director, commended the crew for what he termed passion that had contributed to the success of the production.
Brian Munene noted that it is important for the actors cast for any role to look like the part they are playing.
There was also a question on the place of religiously-themed films in Kenya to which director Makau responded that he had set out to make a good film and not a a ‘religious film’. He advised the gathering to set out to make productions with professional integrity.
Also screened but not discussed were NINE YEARS OF LOLA KENYA SCREEN IN NINE MINUTES by Lola Kenya Screen and WALKING AROUND NAIROBI by Fina Sensada , twofilms created around Lola Kenya Children’s Screen, Africa’s first film platform specifically and exclusively created for children and youth that marks a decade since its establishment in Nairobi in 2005.
A politician, unable to come to terms with his having failed to be elected to parliament, is more than eager to collaborate with a foreigner in carrying out a ‘small’ task in the former’s own country. But as usually happens in games with high stakes—politics and business—favours must be called in, 
So who is behind this film and why does it sound like it is a re-enactment of the the terrorist attack on Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, on September 21, 2013, considering that even the attack in SEPTEMBER is set in a shopping called Eastern Mall situated along Mombasa Road in Nairobi?
Mark Kaiyare, who says he had always wanted to act, adds, “It was only after completing my secondary school studies that I decided to follow my passion by joining Better Play Productions in Nairobi in 2010.’’
Kaiyare, who has also done an experimental short film called PSYCHO, says his first film project was DESCRIBE NAIROBI which he shot on cellphone and that went on to be nominated for Kalasha Film and Television Awards of the Kenya Film Commission in 2014.
Mark Kaiyare says his parents who were at first skeptical of his decision to become an actor as ‘’most people don’t believe that one can choose acting as a career,’’ are now fully behind him after his work started receiving recognition through nominations. They attended the premiere for SEPTEMBER, he says.
That 
There is the temptation to sit back and say that perhaps films from East Africa, when presented on such platforms, are sidelined in preference for films from other regions of Africa, say West and South Africa. In an industry with practitioners who are reluctant to seize opportunities that are right within their reach, how possible is it for these practitioners to stretch their hands for what is far from them? The question here is; just how many filmmakers in East Africa submitted their films for AMVCA 2015? And ‘complete’ submission here means that all the rules regarding entries–such as the number of DVD copies, press kit, profiles of key crew and cast, photos, trailers, posters, flyers, labeling of the work, meeting the deadline for entries, and so on–are followed. This angle of shortcomings in submissions—which I come across all the time from fillmakers in my role as a programmes assistant with Lola Kenya Screen that, apart from presenting her monthly and annual film festival, also represents film initiatives across Africa and the world—is the likeliest bet because similar problems arise even when it comes to events that are taking place within the East African Community region. For instance, it is a Herculean task getting filmmakers to enter their works for the Best East African Film Award that is presented by East African Film Network (EAFN) and East African Community (EAC) at member festivals like Kenya’s Lola Kenya Screen, Tanzania’s Zanzibar International Film Festival and Arusha African Film Festival, Burundi’s FESTICAB, Uganda’s Nile’s Diaspora International Film Festival and Rwanda’s Mashariki African Film Festival. As I write this article, the Kenyan office of EAFN is yet to receive a single film for FESTICAB after the deadline passed on February 28, 2015.
Lack of information is a problem that can also arise. It is vital that filmmakers keep their ears on the ground for available openings and maintain a useful network that can also tip them off when opportunities come up. EAFN, for example, has been in existence since early 2014 but still, we have filmmakers in the region who know little about EAFN. And those who know hardly take their time to find out what it does, its mandate and how beneficial it is. And yet, the main reason for the formation of the network was to boost film production levels in the region.
EAFN has been holding specialized training in film production in in collaboration with partner film festivals in all the five EAC-partner states of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania and the scarce responses to these opportunities is a very clear indication of the efforts that filmmakers in the region put in having their professionally presented work out there.
The Government of Ethiopia has renewed its efforts to 
Citizen Lab’s analysis that was released on March 9, 2015 suggests the attacks were carried out with spyware called Remote Control System (RCS) sold by the Italian firm Hacking Team, which sells surveillance and hacking technology. This spyware was allegedly used in previous attempts to infect computers of ESAT employees in December 2013. If successfully installed on a target’s computer, the spyware would allow a government controlling the software access to activity on a computer or phone, including email, files, passwords typed into the device, contact lists, and audio and video from the device’s microphone and camera.
Hacking Team states that it sells exclusively to governments, particularly law enforcement and intelligence agencies. The firm told HRW in 2014 that “we expect our clients to behave responsibly and within the law as it applies to them” and that the firm will suspend support for its technology if it believes the customer has used it “to facilitate gross human rights abuses” or “who refuse to agree to or comply with provisions in [the company’s] contracts that describe intended use of HT [Hacking Team] software.” Hacking Team has also stated that it has suspended support for their product in the past, in which case the “product soon becomes useless.”
IROKOtv and StarTimes have signed an exclusive deal for two new linear TV channels: 
Jason Njoku, CEO of IROKOtv, says, “Launching IROKO Play and IROKO Plus on StarTimes is an exciting milestone for IROKO. We’re known primarily for leading OTT content delivery across Africa through IROKOtv.com, but with digital migration spreading rapidly throughout the continent, now is the right time for us to diversify our distribution model and expand into the linear TV market. StarTimes are very much focused on bringing the very best entertainment to as many people as possible at an affordable price an ethos that is close to our hearts, which is why this new landmark partnership is so befitting”.
Michael Dearham, VP of StarTimes adds, “The deal with IROKO is a significant advance in our quest to become the home of premier African film and television content. Throughout the global African Diaspora, IROKO is synonymous with high-quality, cutting-edge Nollywood filmed entertainment and their extensive catalogue of prime-time Nollywood movies resonates well with StarTimes’ vision to provide every African family access to high-quality digital entertainment. Our exclusive partnership with IROKO allows us to nurture an ‘axis of content excellence’, as well as more clearly differentiate our value proposition which in turn gives us the means to deliver the very best Nollywood movies and series to our subscriber-base.”
When 
Willy Paul, who was born and raised in the Mathare North slums in Nairobi, recently changed his name to Willy Paul Msafi to sound more like Diamond Platnumz whose production crew is known as wasafi. He is trying to be Diamond in every way, including copying his dance moves and pronunciation of Kiswahili words as he recently demonstrated on a popular television show known as The Trend that is aired on NTV channel of Nairobi. This young singer has no style to call his own. Watching his videos and looking at the way he poses in pictures, showing off his golden necklaces, one can’t help but see a Diamod Platnumz-wannabe.
Barely two years after being crowned Artist of the Year, Willy Paul is involved in a long-standing feud with Bahati, another Bongo Flava copycat, who accuses him of having colluded with their common producer—Teddy B—in stealing two of his songs: Mapenzi and Salma.
Just how did Groove Awards for Gospel Music come to award copycats Willy Paul, Gloria Muliro and Bahati?
While premium rate service providers make at least Sh720 million each year from call and ring back tones in Kenya, the royalty-collecting 
Groove Awards, that is funded by mobile service provider, Safaricom, is not only the longest running but also the better known of all the Gospel awards schemes in Kenya. In fact, it is on June 1, 2015 scheduled to hold its 10th (shouldn’t it be the 11th?) anniversary awards ceremony in Nairobi to ‘celebrate excellence, raise standards in gospel music and equip artists in their faith’.
In 2010, Emmy Kosgei took home two Groove awards—Rift Valley Song of the Year and Female Artist of the Year—for the song, Taunet Nelel. The song is performed in her Nandi language to a Zulu (South African) beat. How did a song with not just foreign but also non-original beats make it to the nomination list? When the Groove Awards organisers say they seek to award ‘excellence’, what exactly do they mean? What ‘excellence’ lies in copied foreign beats?
Looking at the other mission of the music award of raising the standards of gospel music and equipping the artists in their faith, it is not clear how Groove Awards organisers ensure this is accomplished. Do they have a barometer to measure one’s level of ‘spirituality’?
Unless awards like Groove live up to their stated objectives, they could go the way of many others like Kisima Awards that were brought down by allegations ranging from nomination favouritism to awarding organisers being awarded.
Gospel Radio Show of the Year
Code Gospel Radio Presenter of the Year
DJ of the Year
Eastern & Central Africa Artist
Western Counties Song of the Year
Rift Valley Counties Song of the Year
Female Artist of the Year
Eleven 
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s 132 million mobile phone users can from June 12, 2015 tune in to the BBC World Service radio in English and Hausa by dialling the local number, 01 4405 222.
Kenya’s Ministry of Sports, Culture and the Arts has developed a National Music Policy—musicpolicy.or.ke—to 
But for all these to be effected, musicians are called upon to get more creative and original in the way they present cultures of Kenya. They are called upon to do more research and compose better music that will endear the audience to them and have commercially-viable content that will not translate to losses if local and TV stations give them a 60% airtime.
The policy also commits the government to enforce the existing laws pertain to creativity to ensure that musicians in the country operate in clearly defined frameworks that will see to it that the audience benefits from good music, the musicians themselves get good remuneration from their work and the government benefits from the large Gross Domestic Product (GDP) potential which the music industry is capable of turning in if fully developed.
In 2009, stakeholders in the 
Some of the recurrent problems that affect all the countries in the sector include the lack of government policy to protect and give direction to the existing filmmakers. And where policies exist, the enforcement of such regulations is almost non-existent. This, the forum observed, not only leaves the filmmaker groping in the dark but also makes him susceptible to pirates who make it impossible for anyone to reap from one’s work. Adding to this challenge is the fact that television broadcasters do not prioritise the work of filmmakers in the region in their programing since such works are treated as inferior to those from other well-known filmmaking countries: USA, India, Mexico, Nigeria and even China and the Philippines!
Other challenges the summit identified as besetting movie-making across the continent include: lack of funds, disunity among practitioners, logistical challenges as well as political drawbacks such as instability and lack of security that limit the desirability of venturing into the sector by aspiring independent producers.
A film that appears to be a ‘
Jeroen van Velzen, director of A GOAT FOR A VOTE that is set in Kenya and revolves around the young secondary school ‘politicians’ and has screened at various documentary festivals–One World, DokLeipzig–says, “The best way to understand our society is to look at our children.”
Actors, cinematographers, directors, distributors, editors, film critics, producers, production designers, sales agents, screenwriters, score composers, and sound designers who have been working in the 
Among the five hands-on programme areas planned for participants include:
d). Talent Project Market (TPM)
With application guidelines and entry form are available at triggerfishstudios.com,the deadline for receiving entries is August 31, 2015.
“We are ready to bring a fresh voice to the world,” says Anthony Silverston, head of development at Triggerfish. “We believe there is extraordinary talent in Africa and the Story Lab is the perfect way to partner with them.”
The call for all-Africa storytellers follows the launch of a US$3.5 million Triggerfish Story Lab by Triggerfish Animation Studios with the support of South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and The Walt Disney Company Africa.
“DTI is committed to developing a pool of creative talent that can produce international quality animation production scripts,” says Nelly Molokoane from DTI’s Film and TV Incentives Unit.
A film project by a Kenyan has been selected for development at South Africa’s 6th
Nyaruri’s other works–ZEBU AND THE PHOTO FISH (2010) and MAAMA EMERRE (2008), were screened and discussed at LKSff at Nairobi’s Goethe-Institut in 2011.
SUNFLOWERS BEHIND A DIRTY FENCE, a fiction project directed by Mukali and produced by Magoola, won the International Film Festival Rotterdam’s CineMart Award
A film examining Kenyan society through a 
Through chama or informal groupings based on mutual interest, friendship and trust, women have empowered themselves financially and met pressing family and personal needs.
“As a director you must care about your characters and their names; you cannot say you did not give much care to names. You must stand firm and reject what does not work for you. If anything goes wrong in a film it’s the director who’s answerable,” Margret Odengo, a journalist, said.
Both Maithya and Simiyu can be said to be products of the Lola Kenya Screen (LKS)’s skills-development programme. While the latter has undergone LKS’s mentorship for children and youth in film production, the former has, since his college days, attended every single gathering of LKSff. Both are film enthusiasts and actively engaged in the country’s fledgling film sector.
The 88th LKSff is on July 27, 2015. In focus shall be ANGELINA by Micugu Njenga, DECEIT by Mark Wambui, and TRUCK MAMA trailer by Zipporah Nyaruri besides a surprise film for children and two documentaries on LKSff.
Movie-making is much more than just shooting with a camera and editing the footage on a PC. An ‘industry’ is the sum total of different but inter-connected things working together as a single unit, a system.
LETTERS HOME, a nine-minute film that tells the story of a young woman who lives dangerously in Nairobi city while portraying a very perfect picture of herself to her grandfather in the village, was screened and discussed.
Responding to a question from Dim King’oo, an actor at Phoenix Players of Nairobi on the challenges that “continue to bog down filmmakers in Kenya in the area of story delivery”, Munene said writers must adhere to the dramatic structure employed even by Aristotle in their scripting.
Lawrence Makaya, who identified himself as a film director and producer, asked the director how he managed to bring on board some of the best actors in the country.
Brian Munene’s words underscore the importance of filmmakers working within networks.
“We are tapping into film festivals, film awards and platforms like Lola Kenya Screen for exhibition and possible advancement,” Munene said.
Football fans across Africa shall from August 8, 2015 follow live action of the new season of the 
Solomon Mugera, BBC Africa Editor, says: “We know that the English Premier League has millions of supporters from all across Africa and are very happy to be launching the season once again. Our commentary brings the thrill of these matches directly to fans, and there is more to come. In response to our audience’s growing interest in all things English Premier League, we want to give them an all access pass to players and clubs as well featuring the people who are the league’s heartbeat: its fans. Look out for our new and exciting online extras to support this season.”
BBC Kiswahili, that reaches 16.6 million listeners every week across Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Congo-Kinshasa, Mozambique, Zambia and Malawi, is broadcast via 21 local FM stations and has more than 973,000 fans on Facebook and more than 55,000 followers on Twitter.