Dr. Ezekiel Mutua is known to the entertainment industry players as the moral police, often due to the integral role that he plays at the Kenya Film Classification Board regulating local productions.
However, it seems that the KFCB Boss and self-proclaimed King of Comedy Eric Omondi are eager to create a new way of regulating content creators. After Omondi’s scripted reality show ‘Wife Material’ was suspended, and the comedian who was ambushed by police a few days ago, he announced that the two have agreed on a new path for the industry and its stakeholders.
The first season of the show that aired on YouTube went virial where Omondi was seen dating several women, to eventually ‘marry’ local singer Carol from the Band Beca. And as the first clips from staged dating show season two aired, Omondi was in hot soup over the explicit and vulgar content. The second season kicked off on a high, with a bar brawl that had many questioning what the show truly promoted.
According to a statement from KFCB, “The board has keenly examined Eric’s apology and request for an out of court settlement and is willing to settle the case through an alternative dispute resolution on condition that the said Eric Omondi deletes all the explicit content running on his online channels and that the program in contention dubbed ‘Wife Material’ is suspended forthwith until this case is heard and determined and the same fully complies with the provision of the Films and Stage Plays Act Cap 222 of the laws of Kenya.”
Speaking on Instagram, Omondi noted that based on their conversations with the KFCB board, the show will be back bigger, better and cleaner. In a press conference he pointed out” It is quite basic, it does not have to be dirty to sell. So we will be avoiding obscenity and we have agreed with the board the regional idea is quite an interesting…” He went on to thank the board for their understanding and support.
In his most recent post, Omondi has revealed that the meeting with the KFCB was more than just about his own production ‘Wife Material’. Accompanied by industry heavyweights Jalango and Daniel Ndambuki popularly known as Churchill, it became clear that the trio hope to open a new chapter for self-regulation for the industry.
He noted, “We agreed that the Entertainment Industry will come up with it’s own rules and regulations to self regulate, of course within the premises of the law.”
