Mahoka

One of my favourite programs on KBC TV was Mahoka. The most fascinating thing about the program was the names of the characters. Each had a cocktail of four or five names. You may remember some of them:

- Chapuo Chepeo Chap Chap Mla Chake
- Kwapuo kwap kwap mla chao
- Shombo shombora simba wa mji wa macho
- Sir James Chuck Norris Lord Carrington 360, 4,4,3 Magegania Boy

Mahoka was, if I remember correctly, the first Kenyan comedy to play canned laughter during the program. It would appear that they did not record varying vichekos but would play the same one at intervals of 1 min as the show went on, never mind if anything funny had been said or not.

Anyways, I loved Mahoka, Shombo with his famous stinking boots, Kwapuo going to Greece(Greki as they pronounced it) and Sir James with his silly glasses.

Chapuo once had a nice chit chatted with a beautiful stranger at the bus stop. The girl told the blushing Chapuo 'Haya basi korombo' as she boarded a bus. Chapuo happily recounted the story to his friends only to be told that 'Korombo' was a horrible insult. Chapuo made his way back to the now deserted bus stop and began yelling in the direction the bus had headed half an hour earlier 'Msichana wa saa zile, korombo ni wewe na watu wenyu, na mifugo yenyu...' and on and on.