Gatanga benga beat migrating to Nakuru and Nyandarua 

 Joseph Kamaru

Musician Joseph Kamaru entertains guests during Madaraka celebrations in Nyeri on June 1, 2017. 

Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • Gatanga has increasingly been toppled from the charts by artistes from Nakuru and Nyandarua counties. 
  • The emergence of this new crop of musical talent marks the end of a golden era in benga history.

Gatanga sub-county in Murang’a has over the years been synonymous with benga tunes. The sub-county has traditionally been such a fountain of musical talent that a running joke has it that music is Gatanga’s cash crop. 

This heritage, however, seems to be abating, with Gatanga being increasingly toppled from the charts by artistes from Nakuru and Nyandarua counties. 

And while Gatanga is still home to a majority of veteran benga superstars, Nakuru is the new sensation, what with its star-studded cast of younger, up-and-coming musicians. These include Samidoh, reggae artiste Kevin Wyre and Franco Wasubu.

The emergence of this new crop of musical talent marks the end of a golden era in benga history, with Gatanga as the undisputed capital. 

The pioneer of benga beat in Central Kenya, John Ndichu, whose music ruled the airwaves and discos between 1975 and 1985, hailed from Gatunyu village in Gatanga. 

Before he died in 1997 aged only 37, Ndichu had monopolised airplay on the state broadcaster for a staggering 13 years. 

His hits, which include evergreens such as ‘Cucu wa Gakunga’, ‘Mugathi wa Kuona’, ‘Akinyi’ and ‘Uthoni wa Ndagwa’ were some of the songs that made Ndichu a force to reckon with.

So dominant were Ndichu’s tunes that even the likes of Joseph Kamaru – a towering composer whose gems are well-liked to date – became popular only after Ndichu’s death.

Ndichu’s dexterity with the guitar and his talent as a singer rubbed off on his brothers, John Wamumbe and Waithaka Mboce, who formed Rwengo Brothers Boys Band and further cemented Gatanga’s place on the map of Benga music. 

Besides his two brothers, Ndichu inspired and mentored others in his backyard. This led to the emergence of Kimani Thomas, Kariuki wa Kiarutara, John Demathew, Peter Kigia, Daniel Kamau, Albert Gacheru, Makibi James, Karanja David, Waithaka Mboce and Ngone Mkulima, among others.

These artistes later captured the imagination of lovers of the benga genre in the Mt Kenya region and beyond. 

Gatanga MP Nduati Ngugi told the Nation that his constituency’s benga star started dimming in the 80s, largely due to lack of mentorship. 

“Those who Ndichu mentored failed to pass on to the next generation the kind of mentorship they had been accorded…The names that emerged later from Gatanga were largely out of individual struggles,” the lawmaker added.

He urged Gatanga artistes to help in nurturing talent from where Ndichu left off in 1985.

As Gatanga’s fame on the musical front faded out, a Nakuru family was busy fortifying its place on the charts, eventually relegating Gatanga to a reference point for old hits and historical research on the benga music that was.

New sensations

In Subukia, the now popular Salim family was into gospel music at the time, while secular Gikuyu tunes were all the rage in Gatanga.

In the wider Mt Kenya region, music lovers were taken in by the secular tunes, which oozed wisdom on diverse issues, including love, the endless human quest for riches, struggle for freedom, self-rule, government and diseases.

Thus while musicians from Nakuru were busy telling their audience more about going to heaven, Gatanga artistes were extolling the virtues of living to the full, which earned them many followers.

In the 70s, Joseph Salim released hits such as ‘Ngukinyukia o Kahora’ (I will walk slowly to Heaven). He influenced his five children – Paul Mwangi (Salim Junior), Timothy Njuguna (Mighty Salim), Sarafina Salim, Naomi Salim and Kinuthia Salim alias Young – to join music.

One of Salim Senior’s nephews, Joe Salim alias Kajei Salim, is now among the new sensations in the music industry. 

“Nakuru, especially Subukia sub-county, is coming up as the centre of Mt Kenya benga beat owing to the support we extend to our rising stars. We are like a family and are very supportive of each other. Even our media personalities have been very instrumental in exposing our artistes to the market,” said Salim Senior.

He said seasoned Nakuru artistes help emerging musicians by giving them back-up roles.

Subukia was also home to another Gikuyu benga star, Sammy Muraya, whose hits, including ‘Mama Kiwinya’ went on to bust the charts at a time when Gatanga artistes ruled the airwaves. Muraya’s legacy is being progressed by his son Patrick Mwangi, whose stage name is Muraya Junior. 

The only region that seems to be giving Nakuru crooners a run for their money is Nyandarua, the home of Jose Gatutura, whose fame puts him in the same league as Samidoh on the Mt Kenya charts.

The Nyandarua County administration has been setting aside funds to support area artistes. The county is also home to DJ Fatxo, whose real name is Lawrence Njuguna Wagura.

With Gatanga’s heritage under threat, Mr Ngugi said he and other leaders would not watch as their cash crop struggled.  

“We are aware of the threat to our dominance in the music industry. We have held numerous meetings and identified the cost of producing and marketing music as well as media usage as the major challenges. We have reached out to President Uhuru Kenyatta to help us revive our musical heritage and he has agreed,” he said.

Mr Ngugi said with the help of the Head of State, a Sh25 million production studio had been established.

“We already have 10 employees who will be helping our artistes to record their music and other performances for free. The upcoming artistes will be incubated, nurtured and mentored. The climax of it will be the launch of a Gatanga community radio and TV station to help in promoting our music and then our musicians will once again be back to the top of the industry with a bang,” he said.