Grammy Awards are coming to Kenya - CEO Timothy Owase reveals [Video]

Piece by: KIMBERLY MANOJI

21 February 2024

• CEO Timothy Owase confirmed that he was a part of the team that was lucky to attend the 2024 Grammy Awards.

• He further stated that the future is yet to be known as they aim to host an African version of the Grammys on Kenyan soil.

Kenyan Film Commission CEO Timothy Owase has revealed plans to introduce Grammy Awards in Africa as they work hand in hand with the Recording Academy.

Owase confirmed that he was a part of the team that was lucky to attend the 2024 Grammy Awards.

He further stated that the future is yet to be known as they aim to host an African version of the Grammys on Kenyan soil.

"We are working with the Grammys to have Grammys Africa and the negotiations are at a very advanced stage the Cabinet Secretary of Youth Affairs and Creative Economy and Sports (Ababu Namamba) has signed an agreement to make sure that we have Grammys Africa. So basically that is our mission and you will be seeing Grammys very soon,”Mr Owase revealed.

“Let’s bring Grammys to our soil and let’s see that the local music and industry practitioners benefit from it,".

What was your biggest takeaway from the Grammy Awards Gala?

“My biggest takeaway is the fact that we are partnering with the Grammys and have Grammys Africa. And by having the awards here we will be able to gain more experience on how to produce an event. Event production is also critical,” the CEO added.

Owase also mentioned that while in Los Angeles with CEO Namwamba, they were able to engage 1500 Sound Academy for a possible partnership.

He also mentioned that they are looking into adding another category for vloggers among the 39 existing categories at the Kalasha International Awards.

Owase also mentioned that they have received unlimited support and the commission plus the Film industry would like to employ as many people as possible.

The CEO also mentioned that all winners of the 2023 Kalasha International Awards received their Sh200, 000 each by December.

At the same time, Peter Kawa who is an award winner and actor and a nominee and holder of 5 Kalasha Awards took the stage to talk about Kalasha Awards.

He raised awareness of the success of short films. "I want to prove people wrong it is possible to make money in short films".

He said in an interview that they spent over Sh800,000 to create the short films and after two weeks, it was already selling which was a great milestone for them.

He urged people to not avoid or demean short films for sometimes they sell out and create a lot of money than what people expect.