Kalasha Awards in jeopardy? KFC boss insists show will go on, despite budget crisis
The Best Short Film category was awarded to Kutu by Peter Wangugi Gitau. The film that features acclaimed actors such as Foi Wambui and Catherine Kamau, also scooped the Best Supporting Actress award for Ms Kamau and Best Supporting Actor for John Ndegwa.
What you need to know:
- The Kenya Film Commission's budget has been drastically cut from Sh442 million to Sh104 million in the current financial year, leaving little room for programme funding.
- CEO Timothy Owase insists the awards will go ahead despite internal sources revealing severe financial constraints and lack of preparation.
Kenya Films Commission (KFC) CEO Timothy Owase has insisted that the Kalasha International Film and Television Awards 2025 will go ahead, even though sources within the commission say there is no adequate funding.
It emerged last month that the 13-year-old awards event, which has been held in March in recent years, is in limbo this year.
“As long as you have not officially heard from us, you treat that as rumors. You wait until we officially communicate the position but from where I sit, I am still planning for Kalasha Awards. In case of any change, the organization will communicate,” Mr Owase told The EastAfrican last week.
While Mr Owase maintains that the colourful annual event will go ahead, the facts suggest otherwise, with several sources within the Commission saying there is no budget.
According to insiders within the commission, there is every indication that this will not be the case this year because, as some put it, "the commission is broke".
Part of the government's austerity measures are said to have hit the Commission's coffers, leaving it with very little money to support its initiatives and programmes.
In the 2023/24 financial year, KFC received Sh442,729,293, up from Sh310,052,499 the previous year, according to an Auditor General's report dated April 17, 2024.
For the 2024/2025 financial year, KFC's budget was slashed to Sh104 million, leaving the commission struggling to fund its programmes for the film industry.
“What was allocated for us in the current financial year is only enough to run the office operations and pay staff salaries,”. a highly placed source within the Commission told The EastAfrican.
Nevertheless, Mr Owase says it is still on.
A look at the timeline lends credence to fears that this year's event may not take place. So far, there has been no activity to suggest any planning or preparation. It takes at least three months of good planning to organise a successful gala event and from the looks of things, that is not happening yet.
If recent history is anything to go by, KFC always makes a public call to filmmakers in November to submit their work ahead of the event in March the following year.
Several filmmakers told The East African that they had contacted the commission to find out when the submission window would open.
The EastAfrican also wrote to the KFC via its official email addresses, asking for the dates of the call for submissions.
“Thank you for reaching out to us regarding the Kalasha Awards. At the moment, the event has not yet been scheduled, and the call for submissions has not been announced. We are currently awaiting further details and will provide updates as soon as they become available.’’ The commission responded.
But the CEO is adamant it will happen. “2024/25 FY (Financial Year) Kalasha Event will happen, bigger and better. No cause for alarm,” Mr Owase responded in a Actors Whatassap Group.
Last year, KFC spent Sh30 million organising the three-day Kalasha International Film & TV Market and Kalasha Awards.