XYZ season 5 returns on Sunday

It’s another season of unease for the political class as the fifth season of XYZ premieres on Kiss TV on Sunday at 8pm. Get ready to be entertained by the usual characters and new ones as well. Head of Kiss TV Mburugu Gikunda promises a show that “will strip the political class bare”.

The political satire was a concept that Godfrey Mwampembwa a.k.a Gado created for the Kenyan market after a 2003 trip to Paris where he visited the set of "Les Guignols de l'Info", or the "News Puppets". Les Guignols, just like XYZ, is a spoof newscast featuring latex puppets. It has been on the air for more than 20 years and is one of France's most popular shows ever.

 To Gado it was immediately obvious that the same concept would not only be a huge success in Kenya, but could also have an important social impact by exposing, with humour, the rampant corruption and mismanagement of the country. In 2004 he managed to convince the French Embassy in Nairobi to send sculptor Gerald Olewe to France for a month. There, Olewe was trained by the team of experts who create the French puppets, and he learned how to work with sophisticated materials such as foaming latex. He came back with a fully finished puppet of Kibaki in his luggage. Olewe held his breath as he innocently walked through the JKIA customs. Luckily, he was not stopped.

And since then, the set of XYZ has a great number of sculptures modelled after the top politicians including the new entrants like Sonko.

“In XYZ, the idea is a look at the political life differently, it demonstrates how human beings are different,” Mburugu added. The project is directed by James Kanja, with Marie Lora as Executive Producer and produced by Buni Ltd.