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Muhoho: I want the freedom to be me

Friday June 22 2018
muhoho

Njoki Muhoho. She is a leading film-maker and management consultant based in Kenya. FILE PHOTO | NMG

By KINGWA KAMENCU

Njoki Muhoho is a leading film-maker and management consultant based in Kenya.

She is currently the director of Multichoice Talent Factory Academy for East Africa.

She lives and works in Nairobi where she has spent most of her life. She has over 30 years experience in organisational development, human resource management, corporate strategy development and management training, and runs the consultancy Workingsmart Skills Ltd.

Apart from being the founder and executive producer of Zebra Productions Ltd, which has produced award winning shows such as Mama Duka, she is also the Kenya agent for Deutsche Welle, the German Broadcasting Corporation.

A former national winner of MNET New Directions Scriptwriting competition, she has chaired the Kalasha Awards Judge Panel (Kenya) and was head judge of the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards in 2016.

She has written widely as a newspaper columnist on management and change, and has published a book on management titled Workplace.

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She has a Masters in Mass Communication from Leicester University (UK), a diploma in Film Making from New York Film Academy (Universal Studios, Hollywood) and a Bachelor of Education degree from Kenyatta University (Kenya).

She is also a member of the Kenya Institute of Directors and a certified Psychometric Tester registered with the British Psychological Society.

She spoke to Kingwa Kamencu about her offline duty.

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What’s your off-duty passion?

I am passionate about outdoors adventure. I hike and camp a lot. I have camped for 10 days at the Kalahari desert, canoed on the River Zambezi and climbed the Rwenzori Mountains in Uganda.

I have driven myself over 12 times from Nairobi to Dar es Salaam; I love long distance driving. But I still feel I have not done enough.

I am a board of various schools and committee member where we pay school fees and medical bills for less privileged students. Our first sponsored student graduates this year from University.

What would you have been if you had not got into the field you are in today?

I would have been in management consultancy or a TV and film producer. But if the creative sector paid well in Kenya, I would have been a full time writer, writing novels and film scripts.

What signifies your personal style?

Freedom to be me. Independence with an oversized sense of self-sufficiency.

Second, openness and bluntness. I say what I feel and do not believe in holding back to please others. I am not afraid to be disliked or unpopular.

My mouth is a loose cannon; it gets me into trouble as often as it gets me out of trouble.

Third, emotional intelligence. I have an uncanny way of reading people’s minds. That makes me a good trainer and presenter although it also means I tend to intimidate people. Sometimes it also makes me uncomfortable as I get to know more about people than I really want to.

How do you manage your wardrobe?

My wardrobe represents my two different personas. Formal wear for corporate presentations and smart casual, colourful and playful for the creative me.

One would easily think that my wardrobe belongs to two different people. I love dresses and sweaters. I do not go out much but when I do, I design a dress and get it tailored for the occasion. I enjoy dressing up for classy functions.

While in East Africa, where are you most likely to spend your Saturday afternoon?

If not hiking or camping, I would be behind my desk writing something, designing clothes, or more likely, on my recliner watching movies or a crime series.

Describe your best destinations yet in East Africa?

The Mara, Tsavo or Olengalai in Kenya; Serengeti or Tarangire in Tanzania and of course the St Elizabeth Park in Uganda. Just anywhere far from the city where I can camp, hike or climb a mountain.

Do you have a must-visit list?

My bucket list includes camping in the Sahara, visiting the Irish or Scottish countryside where I would hole up in a wooden cottage with a log fire, brandy and a book. I would want to visit the village of Marathona in Greece, where the Marathon race was born.

I would love to visit Australia, the US or Canada and spend time with the native people, that is the Aborigines and native Americans.

What is East Africa’s greatest strength?

The diversity and hospitality of the people and the landscape. Our ability to laugh at ourselves even when we are suffering, our resilience and the fact that we dance like there is no tomorrow.

What is your best collection?

Books. I read and collect books by all authors I like. In fact, I tend to buy the books as they are published. I have a large library.

I also collect pictures of nature. I take many pictures on my hikes and travels. The other collection is of circle doodles. I tend to doodle circles and they have become a form of art for me. Maybe one day I will do a book of them or even hold an exhibition.

What’s the most thoughtful gift you’ve ever received?

A heartfelt prayer. In the early 1990s, there were these two street boys who always came to my cars in traffic.

One cold July morning, as I packed my leftover food into the fridge, I thought of the two boys and that they needed something warm. I warmed the food, packed it and I gave it to them. As I handed the food to the younger of the two boys, he called out to his older friend who was begging from the car behind mine.

Both boys, bowed their heads and said a short prayer for me. It ended with, “…may God give ‘Siste’ more.” I cried the rest of the drive to work.

What’s the best gift you’ve given?

There are several, but if I made them public, they would not be gifts but ‘bragging rights’. I will pass and say I could do better.

What book have you read recently?

I am always reading at least three to four different books at the same time. I am currently reading Bobby Pall’s the Vanishing Songs; Francine River’s The Master Piece, James Patterson’s Black Book, John Grisham’s Grey Mountain, Ken Follet’s The Winters World, and Mau Mau Crucible of War by Nicholas Githuku.

Which film has impacted you the most?

Three. Cool Runnings, a script I would have loved to write. It is simple, humorous and true.

Black Panther, not to be cliché, but it is the dawn of a new genre of film where Africa tells its story and not the usual ‘white man in Africa’ stuff. And Supa Modo, a Kenyan film that I fully relate with and that celebrates who Kenyans are.

How do you stay informed in this fast-paced tech lifestyle of today?

I watch a lot of international news and interact with thought leaders in various fields. I also do a lot of Google searches because I have a curious mind.

But the best is keeping in touch with my friends from all corners of the world and getting to hear what is happening in their parts of the world.

What is always present in your fridge?

Green vegetables, butter and water.

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