Flaqo, (Erastus Otieno) is a one-man comedy universe. With just a camera and his imagination, he shapeshifts into entire families, nosy neighbours, and over-the-top personalities, most famously the tough-love ‘Mama Otis.’
Singer, dancer, comedian and scriptwriter Erastus Ayieko Otieno aka Flaqo 411, in his famed character Mama Otis.
Photo credit: Pool
His genius lies in capturing the drama, chaos, and comedy of everyday Kenyan life, turning simple observations into skits that feel both familiar and timeless.
For a few weeks now, he has been the talk of social media after he rubbed the ‘flashy online forex boys’ the wrong way with one of his skits on how they live a fake life of opulence.
I didn’t expect that skit to rub the forex industry the wrong way. I knew it would spark some uproar, but I didn’t think it would still be trending a week later.
Erastus Otieno, also known as Flaqo, poses for a photo during the launch of Baze at Michael Joseph Center on May 27, 2021.
Photo credit: Francis Nderitu | Nation Media Group
My takeaway was that the people genuinely doing forex weren’t offended; the ones who took offense only confirmed my point that some of the rumours about their so-called forex dealings might actually be true.
Yes, I repossessed the Sh650,000 car I had gifted my ex (Keranta). My current girlfriend already has the car.
I don’t see any shame in taking the car because it was a gift to my girlfriend at the time. You might argue, but was it really a gift if the logbook was in my name?
My answer to that is simple. The car belongs to the office of my girlfriend. If I didn’t gift her, angekuwa anapanda matatu and that would not be a good picture.
When we broke up, there were a lot of valuable things I could have taken back, but I felt that would be petty. That is why I only chose to repossess the car.
If anything, I should have repossessed every asset I had invested in her. After all, this is someone I shared my life with for four years. If I had taken everything back, I would have left her stranded, and to me, that would have been inhumane.
I wasn’t going to let her keep the car. There are things you can let your ex keep once you part ways, and for me, a car is among those. Land is another. Those are assets you don’t joke around with.
If I buy land and build you a house on it, if we break up, of course, I won’t kick you out. But we will have to find a solution because at the end of the day, that land is mine, and I am not about to let you have it if we aren’t together. I would probably start charging you rent if you don't relocate to another house.
Although our breakup was publicised, I really tried to handle it in a civil way. You know, breakups come with volatile emotions, and one might end up doing silly things. I handled our breakup as soberly as I could, and she also tried as hard as she could.
So much was said about the breakup, but there was so much that was going on in the background that the public didn’t know about, and I will never want them to know.
I never thought I would be on the blogs because of a breakup, but I did. One blogger claimed we separated because Flaqo is not circumcised. Do I need to prove to people that that isn’t true? But such is life. I can only learn from it.
When I was going through that breakup, I cut my circle, shot content back to back and became so obsessed with the gym that my manager was concerned.
