Meet Lamar Munene, 9, an actor and model recently won Best TV Actor in Africa Kids Awards

Nine-year-old Lamar Munene, an actor and model recently won Best TV Actor in Africa Kids Awards. His mum, Aisha Wanjiku also a media personality shares with us about her gifted son.

It is said that fame follows name; an apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. This is the case for Aisha Wanjiku an award-winning Kiswahili entertainment TV presenter, a digital influencer, voice artist, founder of #YoungMomsClubKe, and her son, Lamar Munene, an actor and model.

Lamar started out as a model when he was just three years old, modelling outfits and shoes for top brands.

This slowly changed to bagging commercial deals, which made him confident in front of the cameras.

Finally, he landed his first TV role in 2019. He stars as Benji on a local TV show Junior.

Aisha who gave birth to Lamar when she was only 19 years, says motherhood made her the go-getter she is.

“Children are expensive to raise. They come with so many demands and needs. To give them the best, you have to be on the hustle 24/7, 365 days.

I had Lamar when I was 19 and one of the things I struggled with was mental health.

I had mild depression in my first trimester, struggled with postpartum depression, not forgetting the stigma that comes with early parenthood.

Based on those experiences, I vowed to help young mothers through different ways and that is how ‘Young Mom Club Ke’ was formed,” she states.

Balancing act

Being a mother to a young actor is no easy task as she has to make sure he balances his education and budding career, while also playing management role, a title she refers as momager. 

“I teach him the importance of both school and talent — by knowing that he is able to differentiate the two and create that balance for himself without needing supervision for any of the two even in my absence.

I don’t know to be honest if I am his mentor or role model, but I know for a fact I am his mother and momager,” she intimates.

However, Aisha says parenting is a learning experience each day. “Well, I can’t believe this is my 10^th year as a mother.

Time truly is a bird because it flies. I cannot really say there is anything constant when it comes to parenting as it’s always and still is a learning experience as both the parent and child grow and interests change time after time.

However, what’s constant is the emotions that one feel as a mother. It’s such a soul satisfying experience that can really fetch millions if packaged and sold. Unfortunately, it’s intangible,” she says

Aisha beams with pride as she talks passionately about her son. Her award-winning son, she says, is playful, bubbly and attentive while on set and in character now that he plays a mischievous boy on air.

“As a nine  (soon to be 10) year-old-boy, he has a wisdom of a mature person. He is caring, loves jokes and online games,” she adds

Lamar has also started learning the ropes in digital media influencing and Aisha makes sure that his brand grows positively.

“It is easy because he is in film and I am in media. Acting comes naturally for him and he has such a good eye on trends, especially TikTok trends.

He easily picks up on one and quickly creates a scenario that’s suitable. That’s how he has managed to build his audience while maintaining the old audience that knows him as an actor,” she says. 

Love and discipline

Aisha has cultivated a close relationship with her son. When the two are not on set or not having a tight schedule, their favourite pastime involves nature walks and swimming.

“We love nature, so we love being outdoors. We exceptionally love swimming, sisi watu wa Pwani, so this is our go-to date.

We love good food and I can brag about my cooking skills here, hehe. He loves my food and compliments it,” she states. 

When it comes to discipline issues, parents have different ways of handling it. For Aisha, she knows Lamar loves his gadgets.

So, when he is in trouble, she takes away his screen time privileges and cut down on his activity hours, meaning he will have to sleep earlier than usual. 

With the two being easily recognisable in the streets, they have understood what their jobs mean to others and themselves.

“It’s not hard being a celeb’s mother as I do know my son inside out. So, to me, he is the same person.

When we are out, he has his fans and I have mine. We both allow each other to have our moments once a fan recognises any of us,” she says. 

For parents whose children want to venture in acting, Aisha advises them to pay attention to their skills and listen to their interests. 

“It will save you a lot of time trying to figure out which direction to guide them and you get to give them an opportunity to explore what they love as opposed to forcing them do what you want,” she says in conclusion.