Everybody’s dream is to secure their dream jobs and work hard to perfect their skills in order to grow. For one Onesmus Kamau a Prison Officer, life gives and takes it back but before it takes back, you have to crab as many opportunities as it offers.
At Nyeri Medium Prison, King’ong’o,
The 24-year-old has been a musician in uniform for three years now thanks to the support he gets from his bosses at work.
Recently, he got clearance from the Commissioner-General of Prisons to perform in official uniform. “This (performing in his police uniform) is a big deal for me because it represents who I am,” he says
He opted for the stage name Onesih the Kirinyaga Kid to identify himself with his peers and honour his roots, where he was born and raised, before he moved to Nyeri, where he is now stationed.
He has released nine songs and is set to launch his first video later this month. Some of his hit songs include “Ikue Ikue”, “I Made It”, “Wendo”, “Siko
At work, Onesmus performs during events such as prison open days, which give him an opportunity to interact with inmates, who are serving sentences of about 10 years and below.
“Through interacting with the inmates, I have realised that there is a lot of untapped talent behind bars, people that could make good deejays and rappers. I would like to mentor some of them, but I am restricted by my job. Remember that these inmates are incarcerated, so protocol forbids me from simply walking in and teaching them what I know,” he adds.
Being an officer, he says, makes it difficult for him to get performing gigs because of the perception people have about police.
Nevertheless, this has not discouraged him from relentlessly pushing his musical journey, determination that has won him a big fan base in Nyeri County and his Kirinyaga hometown.