Exclusive: Majirani – I was a victim of sodomy while in prison
By Josephine NjorogeKenyan rapper Tom Watima alias Majirani has opened up about his prison experience, having served 11 months.
Speaking exclusively to Nairobi News, the rapper said that his experience in prison left him traumatized because he was a victim of sodomy after inmates attempted a gang rape him.
“You have to pursue what you love. I did not choose the course, my dad chose it for me and I had issues with that. I wanted to pursue music and I ended up fighting my dad because of that and he decided to put me in a police cell,” said Majirani.
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The ‘Hivo Ndio Kunaendanga’ hitmaker narrated his prison experience and why he was jailed for almost a year.
“To him, it was a punishment. Now when I was in a holding cell, something really bad happened. I was attacked by some inmates known as ‘maordinary’, people who are used to jail life.
I am a victim of sodomy. These guys had tried raping me, and I had to fight for my life.
In the process of fighting for my life, because I am a good student of taekwondo, it really helped me, but out of defending myself, some guys lost their teeth, and that’s what got me jailed,” he narrated.
Majirani further noted that he was released from jail only to return to a place he could barely recognize as his home.
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“It wasn’t my dad who put me in prison but that fight. I was imprisoned for 11 months in Narok Prison. When I was released I decided to go to Eldoret, and because of the stigmatization that surrounds people who have been in prison, I didn’t feel comfortable being back home, so I went to Eldoret town,” he said.
He also opened up about how he ended up as a street boy and had to fend for himself for a couple of months doing menial jobs such as construction gigs and selling sweets.
“There I did not know anyone so I started off as a street boy. I lived in the streets for quite a while, and after some time I started doing small jobs including construction. I was not yet famous at the time so I was alone,” said Majirani.
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He further narrated how his fate changed when he received a phone call that saw him pursue his dream of becoming an artiste.
“So one time when I was just selling sweets in the streets, I got this phone call that changed my life. They told me they were holding rap competitions and they wanted me to take part, but I didn’t have money. It was at this point that my neighbors came through for me,” he said.
Speaking about how he came up with his stage name, Majirani took a trip down memory lane where he disclosed that he wanted a name in honor of his neighbors who came through for him when he had nothing because they were instrumental in making his dream come true.
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“The name Majirani came in 2012. The competition that took me out of the streets changed a lot for me. When my neighbors came through for me, I was left in awe. They contributed Sh 25,000, and luckily I won the competition, and the grand prize was Sh1 million.
So when I went to the studio to record my first song, ‘Hivo Ndio Kunaendanga’, but I didn’t have a name at the time, so I remembered what my neighbors had done for me, I decided to get a name that honored them, and so I went with Majirani,” he said.
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