HOW COMEDIAN EMMANUEL KISIANG’ANI LOST SH5 MILLION INVESTMENT TO CLOSE FRIEND

Celebrated comedian and radio host Emmanuel Kisiang’ani has revealed how a trusted friend’s deception cost him a Sh5 million real estate investment.

In an interview with CheptoeK Boyo on Buzz Central Podcast, he said, “I used to do graphic design and then I got into designing for some bank making a lot of money but we lost the contract. At the time I had invested in some real estate project with a close friend of mine.”

The comedian describes how their handshake agreement sealed by years of friendship rather than legal documents became his undoing in 2012. “He had the land and called me to partner with him and since he was a close friend of mine, I agreed because we were best buddies. The investment was expensive; it was Sh5 million. If you’re doing business with a friend you have to have the contracts, the business cannot be based on friendship because that’s what happened to me. I blame myself because I was ignorant for not putting those things in line.“

The aftermath plunged Kisiang’ani into darkness, “I got into a very serious depression because I was living well and I’d invested all my money in that project. I was ready to enter the big leagues after that. I got so depressed and so thin, because of my depression I stopped even working and designing. I’d spend most of my days looking for a lawyer and the chief, someone to help me out.”

At his lowest, his father intervened, challenging him to let go of the past. “About a year in, my dad sat me down and told me “Emanuel you know I know many people who’ve lost assets so are you going to spend your life chasing this one house or you going to move on with your life and you’ll build other houses?” It was a painful pill to swallow but I just decided  to move along.”

Comedy became his salvation. Kisiang’ani channeled his pain into humour, rising as a celebrated entertainer. “That’s how the therapy that I was getting was now when I went into comedy.”