By Prudence Minayo
Angela Ndambuki is a Kenyan lawyer and the regional director at the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). She has had a successful career both as a lawyer and a performing artist. Together with her two friends, they formed a successful girl-group that released hit after hit. They did this in between pursuing their education and careers.
Here is the story of Angela Ndambuki as told by WoK.
Background and Education
She was born in 1980 in Mombasa as the last born in a family of six children. She loved music from a young age and her parents allowed her to nurture her artistic side. She attended four primary schools, one in Mombasa and three in Nairobi: Loreto, Mombasa, Loreto Valley Road, Agha Khan and Lukenya Academy.
After completing high school, she joined the University of Nairobi to pursue a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree. She then got a Postgraduate diploma from Kenya School of Law and a Master of Laws in Intellectual Property Rights from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.
Career
Music and Performing
Angela met Debbie Asila in 1998 and the following year met Angela Mwandanda. The trio became good friends and went on to perform plays together. They did various plays including Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella and other plays at the French Cultural Center and British Council.
Even while she was pursuing her Bachelor of Laws degree, they would meet to continue performing. Then, they started dancing for Nameless. Afterwards, he dropped them for girls who could do modern dances.
“In 2002, apart from school and acting, we also used to dance for Nameless, but then he dismissed us for new girls as we could not keep up with the latest shaking booty styles,” she told The Standard.
They were very disappointed until one of her brothers told them to start a girls group. They ended up forming one of the most successful girl groups called Tattu. The name means three in English since they were three. They only added the double letters to create a twist.
In 2003, their first single Teso was released and it became a huge success. Following its success, they released other songs, like, Haiya, Yu Wapi, Songea, Daima, Yekeke, and Come Back to Me.
Apart from singing, Angela also wrote songs including Haiya, Yu Wapi, and a song for Coca Cola pop star group, Sema, called Leta Wimbo.
Law Career
After her tertiary education, she got a job with a Dutch NGO called Great Commission Church International. She was an executive officer earning Ksh100,000 and also wrote contracts on the side.
The mother of two joined Kenya National Commission on Human Rights as an intern and then a consultant.
PRISK
Performers Rights Society Kenya (PRISK) was founded in 2008. This is an organization that collects royalties on behalf of performers. She was among the team that came up with the organization and its name. She left her job at the Kenya National Commission of Human Rights to join Prisk. The lawyer served as general manager of Prisk before being promoted to CEO in November 2012.
In September 2017, she was appointed the CEO of the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) before being appointed to her current role.
One of the lowest moments in her career was being unceremoniously fired from KNCCI. She filed a settlement case because the right procedure was not followed. It took a lot of courage and forgiveness for her to go back to the organization (which had fired her) as CEO.
Family
Angela Ndambuki met her husband Roy Mutungu in 2004. He is in the world of software and had gone to Mombasa to watch divas night when they met. The two got married in 2011 and have two daughters, Tili and Keli.
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