Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko gave away his luxury SUV, a Cadillac Escalade to a musician who had asked for his support in shooting a music video.
In a post on his verified Facebook page on Saturday August 30, Sonko also announced that he also footed the cost of producing the video.
"I sponsored a musician popularly known as Reds Hot who had earlier requested for my assistance in shooting her music video.
"I met all the production costs of her music video and I also facilitated her by providing cars, fire engines, ambulances and locations for the shooting of her new video music. I urge all Kenyans to continue supporting local talent and the film industry at large," Sonko announced.
Many camera operators and filmakers have complained about challenges of shooting videos and images in Nairobi, specifically within the CBD.
Ambani Munyata, a professional cameraman who spoke to Kenyans.co.ke recalled a day he had organised with friends to shoot in Nairobi for an Instagram project.
"Even when you have the required documents, by the time you are showing them to the 'kanjo', they have already started harrassing you," he stated.
To be allowed to shoot in Nairobi you need permits from the county government as well as from the Kenya Film Commission which are very pricey.
Kelvin Kariuki a photographer from Kasarani, Nairobi explained that he stopped shooting in Nairobi CBD due to constant harrasment by county askaris.
"Nowadays I just concentrate on corporate gigs, weddings, birthdays and others functions that don't require me to go to town," he spoke.
Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua who has had experience in the film industry suggested that filming licences should be scrapped to give youth in the creative arts incentives.
"Here in Machakos we don't charge anything for filmmakers. We encourage them to use that money to pay locals as extras in the video," he stated.
