Wakio Mzenge channels the powers of strong Kenyan female leaders in County 49

“It’s a very natural feeling to be leading as a woman.”

In County 49, the just-launched Showmax Original political thriller series, Wakio Mzenge channels the powers of strong Kenyan female leaders, both past and present, to play Bwatele County’s new (and first) female governor.

And the timing couldn’t be more perfect. In the just-concluded Kenyan general elections, seven women were elected into office as governors, the highest number in Kenyan history, with many more elected in other political posts.

On the cusp of this historic moment, Wakio found herself taking on the role of Governor Nerimah, a woman on a history-making journey of her own – to revive Bwatele from the ruins of corruption, if only its people would let her.

Watch County 49 trailer

Even more impactful for Wakio, when they began production for County 49, Kenya was just on the verge of having its first female vice president in Martha Karua.

“County 49 came at a very exciting time in our political scene; women were this close to clinching one of the top two seats in the country,” Wakio says. “We started shooting just after Raila Odinga named Martha Karua as his running mate. That, and of course our next-door neighbours (Tanzania) having their first female president.”

There was also Charity Ngilu, one of Kenya’s first female governors; Chief Justice Martha Koome, Kenya’s first female chief justice; Lorna Rutto, the CEO of Eco Post; and Majala Mlagui, the deputy governor of Taita Taveta – Wakio’s home county – all women in powerful positions Wakio drew inspiration from to capture Nerimah as authentically as possible.

“Whenever I’m taking on a new role, I liken it to people that I know. I’m a people-watcher. Observing these women and seeing how they were dealing with their circumstance was an interesting thing during my journey in sculpting Nerimah as a character,” Wakio reveals.

Reclaiming history

This role of a female governor, powerful and significant as it may be, isn’t about making history for Wakio, rather about reclaiming it.

“When you look at the African traditional setting, our communities, especially the Bantus, were very matrilineal. They were centred around a powerful grandmother or the eldest woman in a society. It’s not a foreign concept for women to be in high positions of leadership or decision-making,” she says.

Wakio names women like Mekatilili wa Menza, one of Kenya’s earliest freedom fighters who led the Giriama in the fight against the British colonialists. And women like Mumbi, from whom the Kikuyus trace their origins.

“These were all powerful women. I wasn’t coming into this show (County 49) thinking it was our time to take leadership, just our time to take it back,” Wakio says. “I approached this role as a very natural position for a woman to take.”

She adds: “The more I think of this role as a quest for women to gain equality, the more I lose the power of Nerimah. But the more I think of it as a quest for women to regain their rightful position in the society, the more powerful I feel Nerimah is.”

At conflict with her character

But even with this unbridled passion for Nerimah and what she represents, Wakio finds herself at conflict with her character in certain moments. 

“She (Nerimah) had an abortion in her past, and she had her reasons, of course. But that’s one thing I kept battling with, the choices she was making as an individual vis-à-vis the choices that I would make as Wakio Mzenge,” she admits. “Can you be a mum or a homemaker and still be successful in the political scene? She created these kinds of questions for me but I’m a believer in creating a balance in your life to achieve certain things.”

Nerimah is also extremely idealistic, Wakio says. “To think that she can get a corrupt-free county, I don’t think that’s possible. That’s why she gets really frustrated with the obstacles she’s facing because she’s hoping for either black or white, but there are grey areas in life.”

Catch Wakio Mzenge in County 49 now streaming on Showmax, with new episodes releasing every Thursday.