Media personality and songstress Sanaipei Tande, in a very honest conversation, opened up about life after being fired from her radio job which she says was a very trying time.
Sanaipei who had a blissful upbringing in the suburbs of Mombasa while speaking in a recent interview says things slightly changed and her family moved to Nairobi.
At that time, she was able to secure an admission at Nairobi KMTC and later several auditions which she won and eventually joined the Popstars music band.
She later joined radio and life was good until tragedy struck in September 2015 when she was fired shortly after her midmorning show.
“So I get into the boardroom and you have the general manager there and you’ve got the chief accountant and you’ve got the HR manager…I think maybe for those people who are going to break down because I didn’t and so I was given, here’s your letter here’s your cheque, don’t come tomorrow… that’s how the job ended,” she said.
The ‘Chaguo la Moyo‘ hit singer resorted to hosting karaoke in different clubs in the city taking home Ksh10,000 to Ksh12,000 a night.
Unfortunately, Sanaipei would soon find herself out of the role since she faced so much abuse and was unable to pay her bills so at that point she decided to move back home.
“In 2016 November I realized I had to move back home. This moment in time when things had hit the fan and I needed support, I wasn’t embarrassed about what had happened, even I caused it, which I didn’t, but this was the situation…look you have no money to pay rent, what’s your option? go home,” she said.
Later on, while she settles back home, she secured another karaoke hosting gig therefore she had to look for a place to stay.
This time, the songstress opted to stay in lodging in a hotel called Kenya Continental Hotel, (now Deja Vu).
“That was a tough time. I never imagined that I would be sleeping in lodging and as you drive home, which was the lodging…you know…I used to park my car then I just break down because I used to ask myself how did I get here? how did I get to be sleeping in a lodging earning Sh10,000 shillings after insults and disrespect,” Sanaipei added.
She continued to endure until 2017 when her major breakthrough happened after being named one of the cast members in a local series Aziza.
“Getting the Aziza job was very random. Rashid Abdalla saw my song Ankula Huu. I have a skit at the beginning where I am plaiting someone’s hair and I’m talking about how my husband is a deadbeat dad ni ni ni. They saw that and they liked it and they were like ‘this girl can act’ that’s it, that’s how I got Aziza,” she noted.
This enabled her to rebuild her life and upgrade her finances where she reveals she was able to move back to her apartment and continue building her incomplete house as well as reviving her music career.
“I was able to move back to the same apartment complex and continued building my house. I started building my house a long time ago but because of the karaoke hosting and you know, the nightlife, the money was just going to the wrong things. When I got serious in 2019, what I have done in my house between 2019 and now is more than I did in six years from when I started building it,” she narrated.
She has since been cast in several episodes including Kina and Auntie Boss and her song Chaguo la Moyo with Otile Brown is one of the best performings in Kenya on Youtube.
