Comedian Nasra comes clean on Beyoncé chat screenshot, feeding Wajir drought victims

Popular comedian Nasra Yusuf has opened up on what motivated her to tour her hometown Wajir and purpose to not only feed over 300 families, but also raise the living standards of the drought-stricken population.

On a tour of Wajir for an eye surgery charity mission, Nasra, the first and only Somali female comedian in Kenya, was able to witness first-hand the hunger and abject poverty people in the area were experiencing.

Touched by the destitution, she decided to take videos which she later shared across all her social media platforms in order to raise awareness to the drought hammering the Northern part of Kenya.

"I had gone there as part of a team of charity workers focusing on eye surgery and medical work. While there, what I saw broke my heart. I saw women lying in the bare ground, on the dust, with no blankets to lie on, I saw what drought looks like and I saw children dying away,” she told Citizen Digital in an exclusive interview.

“I immediately started taking videos and, while in my hotel room, I combined them all and, once I arrived in Nairobi, I shared them on Instagram and TikTok and Kenyans were moved. My first video from Wajir now has over 3 million views on TikTok.”

After publicising the matter, thousands of Kenyans started asking for ways to help. And she immediately registered a new M-Pesa line for people to channel their support.

"A TikTok fan from abroad, he's not even Kenyan, inboxed me. He was so touched he asked me to immediately go back to Wajir and take immediate help. He said, 'We do not have time for people to raise enough money, this needs immediate help. Go to Wajir now. I'll send you money for air ticket and accommodation'," she recalled.

After making another trip to Wajir and buying foodstuff, water and blankets for the communities ravaged by drought, Nasra teamed up with a popular Kenyan Tiktoker with whom she once again travelled back with even more food aid.

"Within the first day, I raised Ksh.200,000. I was overwhelmed by the support. A TikTok creator who I had always been a fan of, Mummie Francie, who lives in Mombasa, reached out to me and travelled all the way to Nairobi to join me in the Wajir mission," Nasra said.

Along with Mummie Francie, Nasra was able to raise more than Ksh.600, 000 in less than seven days.

"I'm deeply disappointed in the local governments in the North. Sometimes I feel like it's too overwhelming for them but some other times I feel like they don't knock on the national government's door enough. More attention needs to be brought to these marginalised communities," she said.

On the issue of creating fake screenshots to excite her fans, Nasra said that she is a content creator and that she does it to bounce into the news and elicit some laughter.

"Of course Beyoncé did not DM me. Obviously, that's a joke. I'm a comedian; I do these things to make people laugh. And obviously, I knew that I was posting a fake hotel bill, I knew it was originally posted by Vera Sidika. I sometimes do these things when I see that I've been away from the news for a minute," she said, in between laughter.

Nasra also spoke about her failed marriage and reiterated that, even after the dissolution of the once-blissful union, at least she learned her lessons and was able to focus more on herself.

"Unlike men, women tend to focus all their attention and energies on the relationship and forget to focus on themselves and their own well-being," she lamented.

On whether her ex-husband, Producer Rashid cheated on her, the comedian maintained a resolute 'No.'

"We just had our own internal fights, our own issues. No one cheated on the other. We still talk and consult over everyday issues, but we don't talk often," she added.

Nasra also touched a little on online content creation, the place of women in Kenya's content space and more on her modelling show the ‘Modesty Fashion Show’ which solely showcases models of Somali-origin who are free to walk the runway while wearing their full Islamic attire - hijab - and all.

"A lot of Somali models approached me and lamented to me of how they weren't able to hit the runaway while still covered up in their favorite Islamic attire. That's how I decided to launch the Modesty Fashion Show just for Somali models. They're free to look pretty but still have their hijabs on. Our maiden show happened mid last year and it was a total success," she said.

To watch more of this fun-filled one-on-one interview, kindly click the YouTube link below.