#GhettoGava

Exposing Electricity and Water Cartels in Kibera and Mathare.

Hi there,

As mentioned in our last edition of this newsletter, we have a new four part series dubbed #GhettoGava which investigates and exposes electricity and water cartels in two of Kenya’s biggest informal settlements, Kibera and Mathare.

The first part premiers on our YouTube Channel tonight at 8:30PM. Set your reminders on this link.

Ghetto Gava will also be live on KTN News at 8:30PM. Don’t miss out!

Part of our Journalists, producers and creatives share their experience working on Ghetto Gava. Dive in!

Joy Kirigia on co-producing Ghetto Gava.

The informal settlements serve as the entry point for many people migrating to cities and urban areas. However, access to safe and affordable water and electricity continues to be a daily struggle for Kenyans who live in the slums and other urban encampments. Additionally, the high levels of unemployment and poverty in these settlements make it challenging for the residents to pay for legal connectivity and monthly bills. This subjects many of them into relying on dangerous illegal connections strung up by gangs for survival.

In our new 4 part investigative series #GhettoGava, we go undercover into two of the Kenya’s biggest slums; Kibera and Mathare. We uncover the criminal gangs offering illegal connections, and unsafe electricity and water to these informal settlements. In addition, we lay bare, the gaps in governance that enables the cartels to thrive.

Sam Munia on co-producing Ghetto Gava

There has never been a great moment to a journalist than when you finally conclude your story after a very long journey. There have been several challenges during our production process that required our patience, resilience and thick skin development. Joy Kirigia knows better!

Watchdog role in journalism seeks to increase transparency and accountability to our leaders and institutions. Without investigative stories such as the Ghetto Gava, the public could be totally left in the dark about issues and wrong-doings that occur in our society. At Africa Uncensored our mantra has always been; Investigate, Expose and Empower!

We salute the bold researchers who partnered with us in gathering the important evidences on the organized criminal world. We also thank our credible sources for the continued support and trust in giving us reliable information that helps us in producing public interest content. In Conclusion, we trust that this story will play an important role in shaping public awareness and providing information that shapes the Kenyan’s governance policies, people’s attitudes and opinion in addition to demanding for justice and accountability.

Tim Mwaura on Ghetto Gava Graphics

Making our computer graphics for the in-depth and investigative documentaries film are usually important in animating between the scenes and filling the gaps in storytelling. For Ghetto Gava in order to create a comprehensive graphic explanation, I needed to first understand storyline, the characters, cartel’s networks, chains of command, the different institutions and how they are all involved.

Working on Ghetto Gava exposed me to the complex realities brought about by corruption and the overall consequences to the nation. I also got understand the effects of these underworld activities by few people who are out to get rich quick in the expense of the larger population including me, as the taxpayer. However, I also learned that some of the implicated individuals in the racket were just trying to feed their families due to joblessness and poverty.

Most importantly, the story has to be told. The production experience empowered me to be the voice for the voiceless. I sincerely hope that this Ghetto Gava expose empowers the Kenya’s policy makers to make changes that will reduce the victims from this informal system of governance.

John Gathuna on Editing Ghetto Gava

Video editing for long-form investigative documentaries can be a challenging task, especially when dealing with a very large amount of raw footage. This was exactly the case, when I was tasked with editing the Ghetto Gava. 

The first step in the editing process was to familiarize myself with the raw materials by previewing all the footage that had been shot on location by the production team, then to the undercover footage. This process was a time-consuming . There were thousands of hours of rushes to sift through to comprehension. This process helped me to get a sense of the overall story that our production team were trying to tell, and what footage would be essential to achieve the objective.

Overall, editing Ghetto Gava series was challenging but a rewarding experience. It was amazing to see the footage come together to tell a coherent story . It was also a great opportunity to learn more about the challenges that people in these communities face, and the impact that illegal connections can have on their lives.

Catch #GhettoGava on KTN News or on our YouTube Channel starting tonight at 8:30PM.

Cheers!