This Is Why Twitter Is Laughing At The Kenya Film Board. Banning A Song? On Youtube? Hahaha. Thie Ûkίumaga.

Yesterday,Twitter was set ablaze after the Kenya Film Classification Board crawled up from the woodwork to ban yet another video claiming it was infringing on the laws of the Country and that it was immoral,blah blah blah. And then they unleashed a barrage of mockery and jeers directed at them. Yet again.

The banned video was ‘Same Love’ a Remix to a much popular song of a similar name done by American rapper and his collaborator Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. ‘Same Love’,redone for the whole African market by a rap band going by the name Art Attack,sought to highlight the struggles that gay people go through,shine a light on their tribulations,the mistreatment they undergo and the harsh environment they’re forced to exist in due to their sexual orientation.  across Africa. Not just in Kenya.

And then,the old guys at the KFCB jumped onto Twitter to talk tough and attempt to retain their jobs by banning the video that celebrates same-sex relations and that calls for tolerance and acceptance of queer people and other sexual identities.

By banning the song,the chaps at KFCB were attempting to exercise whatever power they have by shielding Kenyans from watching the video they called ‘Immoral’. Immoral? Really? Wow.

We have songs and videos like ‘Dirunk’ by Kristoff,songs by The Kansoul and defunct rap band Camp Mulla that openly advocate for drunkenness,the smoking of Marijuana,a banned substance,songs that show reckless partying and drunkenness and drugs use by others Kenyan artists playing on our television stations. But they’re yet to be banned.

Do Kenyan morals ONLY apply when sex is involved? We have countless Kenyan songs openly talking about sex,inviting the opposite sex to bed and such like stuff. Why not ban them first? Because they’re NOT gay,right?

What about ‘Dandia kama Mathree’?? Doesnt that song promote reckless sex and immorality too? Actually,Baby T’s version ‘Dandiwa’ promotes immorality,random sex and sexual perversion more than Same Love ever will. But Dandiwa is NOT about gay sex. So it’s Ok.

{youtube}3ryy4PIS3Uo{/youtube}

KFCB also claims that the song’s directors didn’t obtain a licence to shoot the video. Hmmm licence from who? Countless Kenyan artists shoot videos every weekend. As we speak right now,there is a Kenyan artists shooting a music video.

Benga musicians shoot full albums at Makuti locations all weekend. Kikuyu singers shoot videos all day across Kiambu County. Who gives them licenses? Who issues licenses? What does the license look like? Who told the folks at KFCB that the directors didn’t have licenses?

Do Nameless,Kaligraph Jones,Wyre,Juacali,Timmy Dat,Visita,DNA,Nonini,Wangechi,Amani always get licenses to shoot music videos in clubs and pool sides? Did Nazizi acquire license to shoot her latest hit Wedding Finger? If so,can she produce it?

Or a much lesser singer like Arynna acquire a license to shoot her single ‘Sina Shaka’??

Or are licenses only required when the song SUPPORTS GAY RIGHTS??

Also,does Mutua and his crew KNOW that YouTube is NOT a Kenyan channel??

YouTube is a free international channel that hosts videos from all over the world. YouTube is NOT subject to Kenyan laws and regulations. YouTube is an independent channel that is run from the U.S. And that operates world wide… Hosting videos for singers and rappers and artists and comedians from allover the World.

By publishing your video on YouTube,you’ve committed NO crime. YouTube is NOT owned by a Musyoka. Or a Kamau. YouTube is not run by Otieno. And it’s headquaters are certainly not located in Milimani. Or Runda.

YouTube is a global channel that is not restricted to Kenya. Therefore,by publishing their song on YouTube,the Art Attack band may argue that they were targeting the wider audience – Nigeria,Uganda,South Africa,Ghana,America,Israel,Turkey,Italy,Germany,Australia,Senegal.

The video,I want to believe,has not been screened publicly on Kenyan soil. Or played on Kenyan TV channels. So what crime have these young activists committed?

Or does the Mutua-led organization govern YouTube too? A free,global platform? Not limited to Kenya? And with no Kenyan offices?

Also,heterosexual couples shoot videos all the time showing themselves in bed or kissing or in different stages of love.

Chris Brown’s ‘Back to Sleep’ is currently getting local video and audio airplay. And yet it’s all about sex and shows Chris in bed,nude,with his woman. Isn’t that morally degrading?

Or does the degradation only happen when the couple is of the same sex?

Kenyans watch the FOX hit series Empire all the time. Kenyans watch Tyler Perry’s Haves and Have Nots all the time…. And Kenyans see Jamal from Empire and Jeffrey Hannington from Haves and Have Nots kissing and falling in love with their male partners. Did those TV series’ ever get banned? And yet we play them locally? And watch them on DSTV? And sell them allover Moi Avenue movie stalls?

KFCB MUST differentiate between doing their job and exercising homophobia. KFCB must NOT be dragged to pettiness and cheap reactions fuelled by fear and conservatism by a hate-filled section of intolerant Kenyans.

Did they ban ‘Kudinyana’? A very dirty song explicitly talking about having raw sex? Done by Collo and STL? Or does a song prompting sex ONLY get banned if the couples are gay? What’s up with the double standards?

Kikuyu singers,the likes of Mike Rua and the late Salim Junior and many others are known to do very very dirty,raunchy songs openly talking about sex and the sexual act. Even openly talking about private parts. And these songs are played daily in Kikuyu clubs across Central Kenya. Were they ever banned? Or isn’t Mike Rua,the King of DIRTY MUGITHI,a Kenyan?

Have you also heard the song ‘Thie Ukiumaga’? By Jose Gatutura? Does Ezekiel Mutua know just how DIRTY that Mugithi song is? Has it been banned yet? Or heterosexual songs aren’t exactly immoral? ‘Thie Ukiumaga’ has over 100,000 views on Youtube. Hmmm.

By banning the video,KFCB did pretty much nothing in stopping the message of inclusiveness and tolerance towards gay people.

Actually,when we contacted Art Attack,they told us that the biggest national geographic that has actually watched the video is from the US. Americans are the biggest contributors to the Video’s Youtube views. And then Kenya,Germany,South Africa,Nigeria and,interestingly,United Arab Emirates in that order. 

Instead of attacking these minorities,bodies like KFCB should be at the forefront in protecting and guarding these endangered Kenyans. Not vilifying them,attacking them further,causing them further consternation and rebuking them even more… Condemning them to further ridicule and attacks.

KFCB actions were unfortunate. And sad.

It’s 2016 guys! You CANNOT continue sleeping your tenure away only to wake up and fuel homophobia whenever you feel like. Wake up and smell the coffee!

The World has moved from condemning the weak. And started accepting them. Or ignoring them.

The whole of Twitter is laughing at you. You now know why. Stop embarrassing yourselves further. This is a fight you weren’t meant to win. Seriously.

Mutua then said that they had written to Google asking to have the video pulled down! Wow! What absurdity! Google itself is strongly ADVERTISING on that video! Google cannot pull down material that is generating income for them. If you watch the video,You will realize it starts with a Google Advert. Meaning that it has the full blessings of Google and the Youtube Inc. Too bad. Some fights are better left untouched.

Peace. Love is Love. Watch the song one more time.

{youtube}8EataOQvPII{/youtube}