Bangarang: New film echoes Baby Pendo’s death over polls dispute

Baby Pendo’s death spurs debate in new movie.

Otile, a poor boda boda rider is jobless ten years after graduating with a second-class honours degree in automotive engineering.

When election violence erupts after disputed Kenyan presidential elections, Otile leads other rioters in the streets of Kisumu. To him this is the only opportunity he can vent his anger against the government’s bad leadership, which he blames for his joblessness.

One of those days as he is on the streets, anti-riot police give chase, and Otile finds himself in Dan’s house. The police trace him there and beat everyone in the house including Dan’s six-month-old child, Baby Joy, who dies. 

Otile goes into exile, afraid of being falsely implicated by the police for Baby Joys death.

This is the plot of a new Kenyan film Bangarang.

The plot echoes Baby Pendo's death at the hand of police officers at the height of political tensions during the 2017 elections. The death of the six-month-old baby became one of the most haunting memories of that election.

After making its premiere in Kisumu, Bangarang, a film based on true events that followed post-election violence in the country in 2017 has hit the big screens in Nairobi.

The movie recorded a full house attendance at Anga Cinema, Parklands, Nairobi, over the weekend. It is now showing at Prestige Cinema, Ngong Road.

“Three post-election violence incidents got me in Kisumu. I was caught up in the violence and was badly hurt. In fact, my right hand does not function well. I also lost friends and all this inspired me to work on the film Bangarang,” says Odongo Robbie, the brains behind the movie.

“I was working at Aga Khan hospital where Baby Pendo was brought after the incident. She was taken to the ICU ward and when I came back to work the following day, she had passed on. That hurt me. It was unimaginable how an innocent life had been taken simply because of post-election violence,” Odongo says.

The 37-year-old filmmaker has produced three award-winning feature films in his vernacular Luo language namely Seredo 1, Seredo 2 and Jonarobi.

“Not everyone has received the film positively as much as it is registering full bookings in theaters. In the film, there is a great reference to Jakom, which in Luo means chairman or boss. This has been associated with ODM leader Raila Odinga and that is why some people have politicised the movie as much as we haven’t leaned on any side when it comes to the post-election violence. Some have watched the trailer and decided that they don’t want to be associated with the movie,” says the self-made filmmaker who learnt his filmmaking skills through YouTube, workshops and on job trainings.

“The Kenya Film Commission (KFC) facilitated us with Sh4 million. We have also received support from a human rights organisation, which will help us get the film screened in all counties before the 2022 polls. We want the movie to sensitise people on the need to coexist together and respect each other’s opinion and decision when it comes to politics,” says Odongo, founder of Leqwood Productions.