The thuggish actor everybody adores
Gasebalwe Seretse | Tuesday November 26, 2013 15:27
Kenneth Nkomo plays a character viewers cannot help but adore whether he portrays villain or victim. The characters he plays always tread closely on the line between love and hate. It is a talent he credits to his enthusiasm to amuse. 'I loved attention as a young boy and used to entertain people around me,' says the 44-year-old Nkomo, who is originally from the border village of Ramokgwebana in the northern part of Botswana.
The actor says that he spent his early childhood in Pimville, South Africa and started acting in plays while still at pre-school.
The former Catholic altar boy says that in 1984, his parents returned to Botswana along with him in tow. He continued to be active in drama groups in schools that he attended such as Bosele Primary and Gaborone Secondary School (GSS).
It was while in Standard 7 at Bosele that he met one of his greatest mentors, James Chikutula who formed Reetsanang Drama Group.
'I am one of the founding members of Reetsanang. We used to tour a number of countries such as Zimbabwe, South Africa and Namibia under cultural exchange initiatives and that is when I learnt a lot about acting,' Nkomo says.
The gifted actor says while at GSS, he got the opportunity to meet the celebrated author Ngugi wa Thiongo alongside Reggie Kopi, Phillip Modise and Tumelo Siele, who are still notable figures in the arts.
On completing his Cambridge, Nkomo was sent to Maitengwe where he did his national service, Tirelo Sechaba. While at the village, he realised that he needed to use his skills to train young people in acting and he formed a drama group.
'Between 1993 and 1994, I enlisted at the Police College at the Village in Gaborone and when I got there I realised that there was no drama group at the academy and I started one. Even today, the drama group is still going strong,' Nkomo says.
Nkomo asserts that as one of the most outstanding actors in the Botswana Police drama group, he was naturally chosen as one of the actors who pioneered the prime prevention programme, Itshireletse. He said some of the actors who started with the popular show include Morris Lephokole and the late Elinah Tshwantsho. They worked under the direction of Near Bagali. According to the actor it is one Morokane who taught most of the police actors the art before a camera and reading a script. In his debut television role, he played the part of Judase, a very dangerous con man and to date, Nkomo has appeared in over a hundred episodes. Interestingly, more often than not he plays the bad guy.
'I really enjoy playing the bad guy in Itshireletse as I execute my role to the satisfaction of my fans. At one point, I was cast as a police officer and many of my fans complained that the role did not suit me and I agreed with them,' he says adding that it is 'pleasurable' to be one of the most recognised artists in the country.
In his own admission, some of his fans think that he is a real-life gangster.
The artist highlighted that one of the saddest things about being famous is that even when feeling down, fans still expect him to smile.
'Some overenthusiastic fans even insist on taking me to their homes to show me off to their children, even when I am not in the mood. I am always running around trying to please my fans, which makes me busy all the time,' he says.
The versatile Nkomo is also a vocalist, a choreographer and an instrumentalist.
He leads the Police Dance Band and has released an album, True Moja, with his group L6, which plays a new genre of music they call kasi house.
Nkomo admits that fame has not brought him much fortune as he largely depends on his salary to make ends meet. 'With the fame that I have garnered over the years, people expect to see glitz and glamour which unfortunately is not the case.
I do not call myself a celebrity because the word connotes both fortune and fame. I consider myself as someone who is popular but still poor,' he says.
The artist however points out that he believes that it is his acting talent that has earned him a promotion since he is an inspector in the force.
He, along with his Itshireletse team, received an award from President Ian Khama and the police.
Nkomo says that he has recently finished writing an hour-long script and that he is hoping to either get sponsorship to shoot a movie in Botswana or sell the script outside the country. Nkomo only hopes that one day his many talents may pay him dividends.