As we wrap up 2022, it is with no doubt that Kenyans consumed a lot of content from social media more than mainstream media.
When COVID-19 struck, local content creators went digital as most of them appeared on shows that aired on mainstream media.
A classic example for this is actress Jacky Vike, alias Awinja and Eunice Wanjiru, aka Mammito who appeared on Papa Shirandula that aired on Citizen TV and on TV47’s Churchill Show respectively.
During the COVID-19 period, Papa Shirandula halted production of the drama series due to precautionary measures prohibiting public gatherings.
At the same time, Laugh Industry also stopped doing Churchill Show live recordings due to the aforementioned precautions among others such as the 7 pm and 10 pm curfews.
Transition to digital
Following the inconveniences caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Awinja and Mammito started doing skits which they shared on their Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Facebook pages.
At first, the duo did their skits separately but they later teamed up and started producing skits together.
Characters
Awinja and Mammito started working together in March, their first character was two ladies from the village, popularly known by the moniker, vienyeji.
The two wore yellow sheer matching dresses, artificial braided wigs and some heels which is popular with women from upcountry.
The two content creators also spoke with deep Luhya accents to give a perfect depiction of a woman from the village.
With this character, they produced numerous skits which were shared on both their social media platforms.
A few months after introducing their first character, the two later introduced a new character which now depicted ‘baddies’ from the ghetto.
This character had the duo rock a tomboyish look which included a hat with reggae colours, a football jersey or an oversized t-shirt, a pair of skin tights and boots.
Awinja and Mamitto also chewed khat and carried around a red carrier bag which had some of it inside, just how girls from the ghetto roll.
The duo also produced songs which were inspired by current happenings in the country.
For instance, months after the Nairobi Express Way was officially opened to the public, flowers which were planted on its pillars along Mombasa Road dried up.
This sparked mixed reactions from Kenyans across social media who hit out at the government over failure to maintain the flowers.
The duo took advantage of the same and teamed up with content creator Terence Creative to produce a song dubbed, Maua ya Expressway.
The 5-minute song published on Terence’s YouTube channel has so far garnered over 550,000 views and over 3,000 comments.
Awinja and Mammito have worked with other comedian and actresses including Shix Kapienga, Sandra Dacha, Nasra and Njugush among others.
