Sometime around 1975 the Kenya Film Corporation informed all cinemas in Kenya that the News Pictorial was being replaced with the Kenya Newsreel. At the Regal we were informed that we no longer had to pick up our weekly copy of the News Pictorial from the British Council at the City House.
Only a limited number of 35 mm copies of the Kenya Newsreel were available each week. The cinemas in Nairobi would first show the latest copy of the Kenya Newsreel. The plan was to distribute the Kenya Newsreel in the same way new release English films were scheduled. New films would first play in Nairobi, followed by Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, in that order and so forth throughout the smaller centers.
Henceforth we were to receive our copy of the Kenya Newsreel each week from the Odean Cinema in Nairobi. At the time all the films were sent to us through the highly efficient Akamba Bus Service. At the end of the week when we received our new copy, we sent our copy for the previous week to another cinema in Kisumu. I believe it was the Tivoli cinema. The system worked flawlessly for years!
In the book African Film: Looking back and Forward (4), Wanjiru Kinyanjui indicates that the Kenya Newsreel had either a political or development agenda. Around June 1980 the Minister of Information and Broadcasting informed parliament that the Kenya Newsreel would be improved. He outlined that ‘the task of the newsreel was to inform Kenyans of current affairs and also to contribute to the intensification of Kenya’s image abroad,’(5).
Initially the Kenya Newsreel was presented in black and white like the previous News Pictorial. Later, on special occasions such as Jamhuri Day the presentation was in color!
Also of interest was that the person narrating the newsreel in English and consistently for a long period was clearly English!. He was definitely not African nor Asian!
Interestingly the Kenya Newsreel could only be seen if you went to see English films. There were not shown prior to Indian films as the latter films were over 2 and half hours!
The Kenya Newsreel was well received by most film patrons. Most viewed it quietly with interest. Almost all of the news events related to Kenya.
Inevitably like the Voice of Kenya the news events featured President Jomo Kenyatta frequently. Later, the whole 10 minutes was devoted to President Daniel Arap Moi, especially in the early years of Moi’s presidency when Moi toured a lot of foreign countries and different areas in Kenya.
Growing up a Kenyan nationalist I waited in anticipation and excitement each week to see the different countries Moi visited. I think during this time, so soon after the Kenyatta regime, the Kenya Newsreel played a powerful role in bringing Kenyans together. It probably gave the country confidence given the way the Moi entourage presented itself and, in the way, foreign countries received and respected them.
The international visits initiated lengthy debates in the Regal Theatre’s projection room. Topics included would the new Moi government survive, would the change the constitution group rear its ugly head in opposition, would Kenya be peaceful, and was there a future for Asians. At one point after many international visits Moi made the profound statement, something to the effect that, ‘we all were better off here in Kenya’! After visiting Canada and the UK (as part of the family exit strategy) I whole heartedly agreed. The Kenya of the 1970’s had a healthy economy, was peaceful and had excellent warm weather.
Moi was accompanied on international visits by the Kenya Newsreel team that included cameraman Henry Bwoka (1). Another cameraman was Charles Manyara (2) Both became instructors at the Kenya Institute for Mass Communication.
Later on, the last 1 or 2 minutes of the Kenya Newsreel would show various news events from other countries including Czechoslovakia. I recall as the years progressed some local musical talent was added towards the end.
Some of the older audiences and staff were sad to see the discontinuance of the News Pictorial. The News Pictorial was interesting as it provided news about various countries in the commonwealth including Africa. The Kenya Newsreel provided almost no news from the commonwealth.
The Kenya Newsreel was produced with local staff in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Austria initially provided the training and know how in filming and producing the Kenya Newsreel. Peter Roehsler was the project manager for the ‘Organization and establishment of a cinema newsreel in the Republic of Kenya – Kenya Newsreel’ (3).
The Kenya Newsreel was produced in 35mm. It was sent for processing to Austria. Filming in 35mm was stopped when video cameras were introduced.
As time progressed the Kenya Newsreel was also shown late night on the TV service of the Voice of Kenya.
(3) https://dokweb.net/database/persons/biography/72cda6ea-7f33-4ee1-8df2- 941b12000834/peter-roehsler
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