Kenya Actors Guild Condemns Assault on Crew Member, Demands Safe Transport Provisions in Film Productions

The Kenya Actors Guild has expressed concern over a recent incident in which a crew member was assaulted while travelling home after a late production wrap, and is now calling on producers to make safe transport for cast and crew a non-negotiable standard across the industry.

The incident involved a crew member identified as Stella Mwangi who, after a late wrap on set, was left without transport arranged by the production and had to find her own way home. During that journey, she was assaulted by the boda boda rider she used. 

“Film and television production often means long hours, late wraps and working in locations where ordinary transport options may not be safe or readily available,” the Guild stated. “Once a production puts someone in that position, what happens after wrap is part of the production’s responsibility.”

The Guild has made it clear that safe transport is not something that should be left to chance. “Safe transport should be planned for, budgeted for and communicated before anyone arrives on set, not improvised when the day is over. Clear reporting and support mechanisms when cast or crew experience harm,” the Guild said. 

The Guild is also pushing for clear reporting and support mechanisms to be established for when cast or crew experience harm, and for meaningful engagement with the Guild on minimum welfare standards that all productions must adhere to.

The Guild stress that these demands are not about making production more difficult, but rather about making basic safety non-negotiable.