Despite several Kenyan actors coming out to air their frustrations of making peanuts from movies and some going broke, musician and actress Sanapei Tande maintains that the Kenyan movie industry is doing better than music.
According to Sanapei, who switched to acting a few years ago and seemed to have turned her back on music after a long career spanning over a decade, the Kenyan film industry offers more than music.
“Acting offers a lot more job opportunities. We have so many shows coming up, new actors and actresses every day, and new productions coming up every day.” She said in the Buzz Central podcast.
With that, she says several other supporting opportunities come along.
“The crew has a huge wardrobe, hair, make, lighting, sound,d and camera. Those are jobs for a lot of people. I think acting is n doing a lot better than music” She added.
In comparison, Sanapei argues that while there is a lot of music being released by Kenyan artists, there isn’t much that makes it to the global stage, something she believes puts Kenyans at a disadvantage.
“I think there’s a lot of music that people assume is international, but it’s really not.”
Meanwhile, Sanapei’s fellow star of the Netflix series Kash Money, Dedan Juma, has come out to ask for financial help from the public.
In a post on X, Juma revealed that he is struggling to make ends meet and provide for his family as he urged Kenyans to offer any support they can.
Explaining how dire the situation is, the father of two confessed that he is struggling to put food on the table for his family.
“I am begging for something to eat…to feed my children. It’s hard here, those who have jobs have not given us anything.” Juma pleaded.
Juma isn’t the first actor to come out complaining of financial woes. Kenyan actor Paul Ogola revealed frustrations within the Kenyan film industry drove him to seek solace elsewhere, a journey that led him to join the US military.
The late Charles Ouda constantly lamented of poor pay Kenyan actors fetch from the film industry.
