MAUREEN WARUINGE ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST

12 January 2024

• Abel Mutua: No one has ever asked for my CV over the last 16 years

• Abel Mutua agrees with Larry Madowo on his sentiments about high school

Award-winning filmmaker Abel Mutua has reflected on his performance in high school and why he has never used his CV (Curriculum Vitae) to apply for a job in his entire life.

Speaking exclusively to Mpasho's Kalondou Musyimi, Mutua revealed that in High school, he was a ‘Useless’ student because of being forced to do things he did not like.

He feels students learn unnecessary subjects that don’t mirror their career goals.

"Sis tunataka tutandike mtu Chemistry and yet you can see that student is struggling then you grade him in KCSE with Chemistry. Unamkemea, we are wasting time learning things that will not benefit us in any way. We need to change this system" he advised.

The film producer called himself 'useless' in high school because his only interest in school was drama.

"But you cannot contain an artiste mind. I am an artiste but they wanted me to sit in class and learn social and chemistry. I was suspended more than twice"

Over the last 16 years, no one has ever asked him for a CV

"Mimi up to this very moment, I have never been asked for my papers anywhere. There is no place I have ever taken my CV like this since I began my work, that was in 2008 to date, that is 16 years. I have never been asked for my CV. "

He explains why;

"And that's because the thing about craft is that, in class, you read very few relatable content. The thing that I do now, there is nothing that I read in class that I am benefitting from. That’s why it is useless to ask me for papers. So I understand Larry Madowo,".

He mentioned that he failed just like Larry Madowo, and like the CNN journalist, there is life beyond those tough exams.

"Larry! knew from the word go that he was a communicator. So as long as his Kiswahili or English, was good. That was all he wanted. All those other subjects were just details tu. Tell me where is Larry using Chemistry right now? "

"But because English yake ilikuwa fiti, I’m so sure that even if he failed, his English marks were good. That is all he needed,” Mutua shared.

The national debate about how candidates performed in the recently released 2023 KCSE has seen politicians and celebrities reveal how they performed.

Among those was Larry Madowo who wanted to serve as an encouragement

He said that he scored a mean grade of B-, unfortunately, he was forced to repeat form four because of his 'bad' grade.

"I “failed” KCSE but I did 45 foreign trips last year - 27 countries. My B- in the national exam was so bad I was getting pushed to repeat Form 4! Mtu asikupimie hewa," told Larry Madowo.