Eddie Butita tightly clutches onto his iPhone, scrolling and pretending to be reading something important as we meander through the streets in downtown Nairobi to find a chill spot.
“Butita niaje (How are you)?”
A taxi driver temporarily abandons his duties wiping his car’s windscreen and stretches his palm for a handshake with a toothy grin as we pass by.
With every step we take, the stares from passers-by appears to become more and more discomfiting to the comedian, with his phone trick seemingly not doing enough to disguise him.
“Butita, can I take a picture with you?” a young woman at the restaurant begs as she hurriedly cleans her smart phone camera with the corner of her blouse.
Over the past decade, the comic has become accustomed to fame after bursting into the limelight through the once-popular TV programme, Churchill Show.
Butita, however, admits that the fame he has gained since his new-found camaraderie with President William Ruto began has been a little too much.
“In the past, I would easily take a stroll through the CBD without much distraction from people. But the situation is different now after the people started seeing me with the President on a few occasions. I’m not a snob but sometimes it gets overwhelming when everybody wants a word with you on the streets whilst you in a rush. That’s why I try to disguise myself,” Butita offers.
His recent trip to the US while accompanying the President on a tour of renowned filmmaker Tyler Perry Studios only fanned the flames.
The comedian was the only notable creative invited to accompany the President on the tour with actress Catherine ‘Kate Actress’ Kamau landing her invitation through Meg Whitman, US Ambassador to Kenya.
Butita’s dalliance with the President began in June last year when he was part of a team of artists who were invited to State House when it hosted the National Film and Drama Festivals.
During the event, the Head of State commended the content creators for their art and the job opportunities they have created for fellow youths. He went on to claim that they were making more money than he was!
“These are our great artists who today are monetising their content. Those two young men [Butita and fellow actor-cum-funny man Timothy Kimani Ndegwa alias Njugush] you see there are making more money than my salary,” the President remarked.
This was evident on their arrival at the expansive Tyler Perry Studios where Butita and the Head of State were seen sharing a light moment as they marvelled at the production house.
In the short video shared by Butita on social media, the President can be heard asking the comic when the country (Kenya) would build a similar production house amid laughter.
“Uko area sasa tutatengenza studio kubwa ka hii huko Kenya lini (Now that you are here, when do you reckon we will be able to build such a studio in Kenya)?” Dr Ruto asked the comedian.
In response, Butita told the Head of State the country would need at least two years to accomplish a similar feat.
“He is very inquisitive; he asks a lot of questions, he wants to know stuff especially about our industry and by the way he is very hands on. You don’t get to hang a lot with the President because of his busy schedule but those are some of the things that come out clearly. He enjoys some good jokes and is also funny in his own way. Ooh! And he loves his tea,” Butita tells me.
But even with the confidence showed by the President in him, Butita maintains there isn’t really anything special about him being liked by Dr Ruto.
“I really don’t think there is anything special about me but what I want to believe the President likes about me is the ideas I bring to the table on issues concerning the creative industry. It might seem like I am blowing my own trumpet but I’m sort of a creative think tank,” Butita says.
“I think he had has been observing what I do, because the first time we met during the drama festival he called me by my name.”
The comic says he has been invited to a number of board meetings on matters to do with the creative industry with the President chairing some.
“I think I am now the President’s spanner boy (laughs) on creative matters, that’s very humbling. When he met the TikTok bosses to push for monetisation [of content] I was invited, the same was the case with Facebook and even Google, and he engages you quite a lot. He likes to ask ‘As the president what do I need to do?’”
“In the beginning when State House and Ministry of Youth used to call us for meetings I used to think it was just ‘vipindi’ [PR stunts] and that our ideas would die immediately we left the room. But later, my mindset changed,” the comedian adds.
Butita, who runs his content hub start-up Stage Presence Media (SPM Buzz), says one of his greatest achievements has been the integration of M-Pesa to social media apps.
“I have been pushing to have M-Pesa integrated as a payment feature in social media platforms to enhance content monetisation for Kenyan creators. It’s now a reality and anyone can confirm this. This I credit to the President, he made it happen with those constant follow ups.”
The comic says he has also been championing raising Kenya’s cost per mille (the cost an advertiser pays for one thousand views or impressions of an advertisement) on Google and he has seen the President make efforts. He wants to make the most out of his closeness with the president.
“This is the only time I have seen a leader passionate about championing this agenda. I think it would be great to make use of him and at least set up structures we can leverage on even when his time to leave comes.”
