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Pepeta: Crime and Football

By November 23, 2022 183 Comments
The Cast of Pepeta

By Mary Kamanthe 

 

Showmax is set to premiere its new crime series, Pepeta. The eight-part series was recently watched exclusively at Nairobi Street Kitchen in Westlands. The event was hosted by Amina Abdi Rabar.

The series is based on the life of Harun “Rio” Wathari a former football player from Kibera. It captures the aspirations and realities of the young people in Kibera, which is renowned for producing some of the best football players in the nation.

Big names from the industry graced the event among them, Avril Nyambura, Lwanda Jawar, Dedan J. Onyango, Brahim Ouma, Malik Lemmy and director Vincent Mbaya.

The highlight of the night was when the cast and crew got to share their milestones with the audience and the time and effort it took to create this production.

Rio received accolades from director Mbaya for having the courage to tell his story to the world.

“The first thing that attracted me to this story is that it’s based on real-life events. I was sold the moment I heard about it. Shoutout to Rio because it’s not easy to tell your life story and allow people to come in and show it to the world. It’s a very brave thing, and it’s an important story and I think what we’ve done on this show is going to shake the industry,” Mbaya said.

 

An attendee during the Pepeta Premiere

An attendee during the Pepeta Premiere

Dedan Juma, one of the key players, shared an emotional account of how he was cast in the part just one day after his mother passed away and how his mother encouraged him to pursue a career in theatre to keep him away from a life of crime. Juma plays Zeze, a gang boss who was raised in the streets and has only ever known how to live a life of crime.

“It’s like I’ve lived Zeze’s life and I always knew that if I ever get a role like this, I would do justice to it.” Juma shared.

The crime series is produced by CJ3 Entertainment with Damaris Irungu, Charles Ouda and Abigail Arunga as writers and Vincent Mbaya as the director.

Pepeta replaces the political thriller County 49. Brand-new episodes will be available on Showmax every Thursday.

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