Kenyan crime-drama series Borderline is as dangerous as it is captivating

Borderline is a place where police officers go to die. It’s also a place where the police are more dangerous than the criminals they hunt. No one, not even the gangs who rule the streets, is safe here. 

At its best, residents are lucky to get home with their wallets or purses intact. And at its worst, young men are knifed or gunned down in broad daylight, the dead are dumped by the roadside and children are kidnapped by rival gangs just to make a statement. In this brutal world, Borderline, the new Kenyan crime-drama series on Showmax, comes alive.

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Set in Nairobi’s Eastlands, Borderline follows two gangsters as they fight for territory and control while also engaging in a deadly war with the police who know only one way to silence criminals – with a bullet.

At the centre of the story is Lebanon Sempele “Lebo” (George Mo, Crime and Justice, Lost In Time), a reformed gangster working so hard to stay clean, if only the streets would let him.

After losing his friend Festus (Charles Kiarie, Kina) in a heist gone wrong, Lebo decides to retire from crime and opens a movie shop. But as the show’s tagline goes, the streets always call you back. Lebo is forced to assemble his gang once again when the lives of those he loves are threatened by other gang members fighting for territory and a new trigger-happy police officer in town, Kwach (Victor Ber).

Crafty and unorthodox in his methods, Kwach is deployed to Borderline to help “clean” the gang-infested streets after a police officer is murdered. Kwach is determined to bring down Lebo even if it means using his own people against him. But a place like Borderline isn’t big enough for two men with oversized egos and soon, Lebo is forced to work together with his sworn enemy and fellow gangster Tabuu (Edijoe Mwaniki, Sense8) to bring down Kwach.

Caught in the middle is Lebo’s sister Queen (Palma Lumbasi), and the two women fighting for his love Sanaa (Veronica Waceke, Fundi-Mentals) and Tiri (Wanjiku Mbati, Machachari).

As the war between the police and the gangs rages on, an old enemy “rises from the dead” and infiltrates Borderline, hitting Lebo where it hurts the most.

Created and written by Mona Ombogo (Dream Child), Borderline also stars 40 Sticks director Victor Gatonye, Kieran Kirema (Varshita) and Alfred Calypso (Lusala).

A Zamaradi production, Borderline is directed by Makutano Junction writer Morrison Mwadulo and produced by Louise Kamwangi (Dream Child), with Appie Matere (Kina, Jela 5-Star, Kona) acting as executive producer.

Stream Borderline S1-2 on Showmax.