Peter Sankale stage name, Olexander Josphat, is a veteran Kenyan comedian and actor, beloved for his hilarious Maasai-accented characters on classic TV shows.
He was born and raised in Ngong, Kajiado County, Maasai land which explains his flawless accent. In Standard 1, he won “Best Actor” on parents’ day and got an exercise book, pencil & rubber as prizes.
Sankale worked as a bank clerk teller at the now-defunct Pan Africa Bank.
In the early 1990s, his bank manager, Charles Gitonga or Jimmy Gitonga in some accounts, noticed his humor and encouraged him to audition. Gitonga asked, “Peter, you are a very funny man.
Sankale auditioned at the Kenya National Theatre with the late Masaku. Producers loved his idea to incorporate a authentic Maasai accent.
He started as an extra in Vitimbi a family comedy in 1995, earning just KSh 700 per gig while juggling banking.
Olexander Josphat was the illiterate, cattle-obsessed Maasai who spoke broken Swahili with the unforgettable line “Wapi ng’ombe?” “Where are the cows?”.
His punchlines glued families to black-and-white TVs every Saturday night. Alongside legends like Mzee Ojwang’, Mama Kayai and Masanduku, he turned Vitimbi into Kenya’s national living room.
In the mid-2010s, KBC tried to retire the older Vitimbi cast “because of age”.The younger actors including Sankale, Ondiek and Makokha walked out in solidarity, saying: “We are one family.”
By Newsmedia