A few hours after Kenyans on Twitter went up in arms concerning a disgusting new song titled ‘Pigwa Shoka’, the artists behind it have taken to YouTube to apologize.
The artists, Sheddy Empire pulled down the controversial song and put up a half-hearted apology in which they sent their sincere apologies to the friends and family of the slain university student Ivy Wangechi. They added that the song was taken out of context and they did not mean to advocate for the killing of women as they did the song out of fun.
The intended apology soon went downhill with the artists calling out journalists, bloggers and Xtian Dela who are out to get them with the stories that they were normalizing killing. They went on to say that Ezekiel Mutua should stop looking for them as they had done nothing wrong. One of the artists said that Kenyans and the media only react to such songs as opposed to their other songs which got no airplay and since they are trying to feed their families, putting out songs such as ‘Pigwa Shoka’ is the only way for them to get ahead.
K.O.T had called on the Kenya Films Classification Board (KFCB) and YouTube to take action on the song released on Friday (06.05.19). The song caused an uproar over it’s messaging and video that shows youths in “blood-stained” clothes carrying “bloody” axes, Nairobi News reported.
On Sunday (05.05.19), KFCB CEO Ezekiel Mutua confirmed that he had received complaints from Kenyans and that he had asked the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to find and arrest the culprits behind the said song.
“We are following up to ensure that there is heightened surveillance on this kind of content. We have also alerted DCI to find the creators and producers of such content and ensure that they face the law,” said.
1/7 @InfoKfcb is inundated with calls for action on the online distribution of a song titled "Pigwa Shoka" by Sheddy Empire which glorifies femicide and amounts to incitement to violence against women.
— Dr. Ezekiel Mutua, MBS (@EzekielMutua) May 5, 2019
He added that they had also alerted Google, which owns YouTube and is committed to taking action through their “Trusted Flaggers” office in Kenya. We are saddened by the delay. Global platforms take long on such decisions as the global community policy standards differ from one jurisdiction to another.”
The song comes just weeks after 28-year-old Naftali Njahi Kinuthia was arrested and charged for allegedly hacking Ivy Wangechi to death over unreciprocated love outside the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) on April 9th, 2019, The Sauce reported. The sixth-year medical student was reportedly waylaid by the suspect as she walked out and died on the spot after sustaining deep cuts. The report indicated that the suspect had allegedly concealed his axe and knife in a sack.
As reported by The Sauce, Mr. Mutua also known as the moral police recently banned the infamous ‘Taka Taka’ song by Alvindo saying that the song was degrading and equating women to trash something that is totally unacceptable.
