Comedienne Eunice Mammito is facing backlash after shooting a skit video making fun of Joseph ‘Jowie’ Irungu, who has been sentenced to death for the 2018 murder of Monica Kimani.
A day after his sentencing, Mammito recorded a parody of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” song, asking Jowie not to cry over his death sentence, suggesting he will find a man to love him in prison. And that Jowie, a budding gospel artist will excel in prison talent shows with his songs.
She sang, “Jowie, don’t cry because you got a death sentence, see it as an opportunity to scam us, Jowie. When you go to prison, you’ll find a man who loves you, so dearly, you’ll find your soulmate, Jowie. When you go to prison with your two songs, you’ll perform at the prison talent show, and you will kill it, Jowie.”
Netizens React
The majority of the over 9,000 netizens who commented on the video within 17 hours believed that Mammito’s Jowie video was inappropriate.
One Instagram user commented, “This is an insensitive video that should have been taken down by now. You are better than this, @mammitoeunice.”
Fashionpreneur Yvonne Afrostreet, said, “Oh no Mammito. This is not funny.”
Similarly, Mammito was trending on X over the Jowie video, and X users expressed their displeasure.
Politician Alinur Mohammed commented, “Monica Kimani’s family is in deep pain, Jowie Irungu’s family is in deep pain. It is insensitive for Eunice Mammito to make senseless content out of this situation. Even Monica’s family will not laugh at this. Mammito should issue an apology to the two families now.”
Ex-boyfriend Butita Dragged into the Drama
Mammito‘s ex-boyfriend, comedian Eddie Butita, became entangled in the “Jowie” video drama, with netizens urging him to intervene. One netizen directly addressed Butita, stating, “Tell Mammito to release that video of Jowie.”
Butita joked back by sharing a video of the late former president Mwai Kibaki saying he only had one wife, implying he’s only with alleged girlfriend Sadia and wants no part in the Mammito mess.
Mammito Backtracks
Mammito responded to the backlash over the Jowie video. She seemed remorseful for her joke as she sarcastically questioned her own place in making light of others’ appearance.
“Am in hot fire now, my soul weeps. I am but a small thin woman with no buttocks and am not as attractive, how dare I joke about a beautiful accused person, but your unity, how it fills my soul!“
She commented self-deprecatingly.
Yet, Mammito was surprised by the unity in criticism and hoped it could be used to tackle societal issues. She said, “I have a witnessed a very rare occurrence something that has not happened since 2002 people from every background uniting together for a reason, to cook me. It gives me hope for the future that one day we shall unite and fight against corruption and other things ailing our country.”
By Vivian K.