MILLICENT OMANGA INQUIRES INTO WHEREABOUTS OF SIPANGWINGWI HITMAKER

Politician Millicent Omanga has publicly raised questions regarding the whereabouts of popular Gengetone artist Exray Taniuah, whose song Sipangwingwi became a cultural and political phrase, only to be controversially banned in by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC). 

“By the way, yule msanii wa Sipangwingwi… aliendanga wapi?” (By the way, that artist of Sipangwingwi… where did he go?), Omanga asked.

Exray rose to fame in 2021 with his hit song, shortly before the phrase ‘Hatupangwingwi‘ was banned, In July 2022, the High Court delivered a landmark ruling overturning the NCIC’s ban. Justice Antony Ndung’u quashed the Commission’s decision, stating it did not follow due process when classifying “Hatupangwingwi” as hate speech.

The court’s judgement sided with lawyer Felix Kiprono’s argument that the phrases carried different meanings and that the ban was discriminatory. The phrases had been widely used by the then Deputy President William Ruto and the Kenya Kwanza alliance during the campaign period.