Germaine Ololo is a renowned Congolese comedian. Whenever on stage she raises awareness one joke at a time. Be it a scene on forced marriage, violence against women or on the complicated situation of widows in society, there is no taboo issue for her.
The comedian who is a mentor to younger counterparts, welcomes them every week at the headquarters of the Fief which can be translated as the international festival of Women’s speech. Together, the women prepare workshops and shows but they also discuss ways to promote women’s empowerment in the field of art and culture.
“That’s what art is all about, enrich the ordinary language to get a message across, I think that public speaking today, whether it’s telling tales, being a slam poet or a stand UP comedian, all these forms of art must be tools to try to educate,” Ololo says.
Stand up is a popular a theatrical form of comic monologue. On the continent, the number of women comedian keeps increasing by the day.
*The views of the above article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Africa Speaks 4 Africa or its editorial team.