'I owe my success to him,' Jacky Vike recounts working with the late Charles Bukeko

Actress Jacky Vike, popularly known as Awinja from her role on Citizen TV’s award-winning program Papa Shirandula, recounted the lessons she learnt working with the show’s main character Charles Bukeko, whom she described as a ‘legend.’

Awinja took a trip down memory lane, having worked side-by-side with the late prolific thespian Bukeko, alias Papa Shirandula, for so many years.

“There’s a lot I remember Charles for. I owe my success to him because I worked with a legend,” said Awinja in an interview on Churchill Show.

“The one thing I remember at the top of my mind, is that he was such a professional in everything he did and had a lot of time and discipline on set. These are traits that I learned from him and have helped me in the industry.”

The actress went on to add that Papa Shirandula was like a father and was very special and dear to her.

“Bukeko was very caring. Even outside the set, he would always give me advice. He was our dad. After he passed on, I said I have lost another father after my biological dad,” she said.

Awinja stated that despite descending from the Luhya community, acting with the Luhya accent was one of the most challenging roles for her before she eventually mastered it.

“Acting on Papa Shirandula has been one of the most challenging roles for me because of the Luhya accent. Yes I am a Luhya, I have gone to school in Western, but I have never thought of using it as an accent to play a role. At first I struggled, but I eventually mastered the accent,” she noted.

Addressing her favorites among the Papa Shirandula cast, Awinja gave a special mention to Jacqueline Nyaminde (Wibroda), saying she always anticipated to work with her on set.

“I loved working with most people. But my personal favorite was Wibroda. I always looked forward to being on set with Papa and Wibroda because then, I knew we would kill the show,” said Awinja.

 “After the show ended, I asked myself, now what? Thereafter, I was always indoors and all I had was my phone. I felt like I was idle but full of ideas. That’s when I started creating my skits to satisfy myself, not knowing they would help me bag endorsements.”