AFRICANEWS

Kenya

Dancing to whose tune?

Children

Part of the menu offered by Kenya's tourism industry is a visit to coastal resorts where visitors can enjoy a night out. In some of these havens the entertainment consists of dancing competitions. The dancers however, are not adults, but children, some as young as five.

I t is eight in the evening on a hot Sunday at The Office Restaurant, located next to the Likoni ferry in Kenya's port of Mombasa. The mixed crowd of Africans, Arabs and Europeans- is on its feet cheering and screaming. Suleiman Majambozi has sent them wild by doing quite a jig.

It is yet another final of the weekly dancing competition and Majambozi is keen to defend his title against eight-year-old Saidi Riziki. This he successfully does, lifts his hands and screams: "Yes." As he bows to the crowd , the Disc Jockey manning an expansive sound system announces: " A big clap for the king. A big clap for the king." The crowd obliges and Majambozi goes upstairs to relax after a hectic evening in which he battled 20 competitors. The activities at the club is breathtaking, and he despetely needs the rest as he is only ten years old!

Majambozi is among scores of minors who have been recruited into a new form of entertainment in Kenya's coastal areas. It involves dancing competitions for chidren some of them who are as young as five years! The trouble is that these competitions take place in crowded bars where the minors are vulnerable to abuse.

Such events have made this sleepy part of Mombasa, known as South Coast a favourite destination for many in the evenings. Despite their degrading and abusive nature, the dancing activities seem to make nightlife in Likoni merrier. South Coast hosts some of the country's finest tourist hotels. Up to three o'clock in the afternoon there is nothing entertaining around the place. But come that magic hour everything springs to life as the competition referred as The Family Show moves into action.

Fun searching adults-inclusive those with peculiar sexual preferences- troop to places like The Office to be entertained by the minors. The popularity of the shows was recently boosted when the a channel of the national radio station 101.9 Metro- FM held a similar show in the area. That seems to give the indication that the authorities don't care who attends these shows and whatever their acts are.

Most of the children in the clubs are there for the dancing competition which specialises in a Congolese dance referred to as Ndombolo. The dance is one that involves imitating a walking monkey. Entrance charges average US$0.3 for children while adults pay double this rate. The show starts with the DJ and his team choosing in random between 10-15 children. Most of them are perennial contestants. He spins popular Congolese songs which they dance to in an elimination contest. The judge is usually an intoxicated crowd that decides who is the better dancer. To declare a winner the DJ usually asks the crowd in Kiswahili: Aendelee ama asiedelee? ( Should he continue or not?). If the answer is in the affirmative the contestant continues. If it is not he is eliminated from proceeding to the next stage.

Most of the children are either in school or have dropped out due to lack of fees. Majambozi, whose dream is to work at the port is a class three student at Consolata Ndogo Primary School. His opponent Saidi, aged eight is a student at Nyamboki Primary School. Despite their young ages this has not barred them from attending the dancing contests for the past one year.

Initially when the competition started at The Office in January this year they used to be paid Ksh 200 (US$ 3) per session. Later this was reduced by half. Now they get between Ksh 30-50 (US$0.4-0.7) or nothing. At those times when there is no money the winner is accorded the 'honour' of dancing to a song of his own choice. As we visited, Majambozi, a second born in a family of three, has not been paid and so he has to wait for the Disc Jockey (DJ) to invite him to choose his song.

But the club's DJ who styles himself as Ranking Jimmy, claims that they reward the children every time they dance. The presents include sweets, books and chocolate. However, by the time this writer left the club around midnight most of the contestants had not received anything. They were dozing on the wooden chairs at the bar. The DJ also denies that the show is exploitative, claiming the motive is simply to offer entertainment to the family.

The DJ who has played in some of the bright spots in the area like PineWood Beach, Diani Sea Resort was contracted by the management to start the show in January this year. By then business was low. However, since it was started the show has proven to be a crowd puller. Now he claims that the club is the most popular in the area. The busiest months are April, August and December when schools are closed and the children are at home.

Majambozi says he uses the little money he is paid for his school requirements and also to buy some clothes. He says: "I really don't like this place, but I have little to do elsewhere. That is why I come here. Otherwise when in school I'm a different person." He claims that last term he was number two in a class of 56 students. It is hard to verify this claim. His parents are divorced and he says that his mother would never dare enter a bar though she knows what he does there. The other pub where Majambozi and his likes like to operate is Harambee Bar located a few paces from The Office. There is also the Mombassa Watersport Hotel which offers a similar menu.

Juma Rajab is another minor and who says he was first entered into the competition by his mother. Since then there has been no turning back. He has taught himself most of the dancing styles by watching music videos. Though he is angry that at times they are not paid he is not bitter and answers rather philosophically. "Even if they don't pay us God will reward our talents." When they get paid, Rajab gives all the money to his mother who is jobless.

Dancing next to Rajab is nine year old Rehema, the only girl who contested that night. Shy and beautiful she looks like a kid on a family holiday. Yet she is not. According to her she just found herself dancing and has been on it as long as she can remember. Despite her advanced age she has yet to step into a single classroom. She says: "My mother does not have the financial ability to take me to school. That is why I come here." When she is not there and her age mates are at school she just stays at home or attends Islamic classes.

Another girl is Amina Thala, 13, who has never been to school. She lives with her grandparents after her mother passed away and her father deserted the family. Today she was not entered into the competition but stoically she says: "Nitarudi weekendi ijayo na wataniona." (I'll come back next weekend and my opponents should brace for it.") Next, enters 17-year-old Amos Raphael. who despite his advanced age he looks like a ten year old. He is a class three drop-out and among the most seasoned dancers in the pub. This seventh born in a family of 11 sees dancing as an occupation. He says: "My mother is unemployed and I don't have a dad. So I have no any other work other than to dance." Amos, who wants to be a mechanic eagerly asks me whether I know of any clubs that offer a better pay. I tell him no and his disappointment is hard to conceal.

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