Wanuri, Bobi Wine and Aketch make TIME 100 Next list of influential people
Time Magazine has released the first ever Time 100 Next, which is an extension of the magazine’s annual list of power players and influences around the globe.
The inaugural list featured among others Kenyan film maker Wanuri Kahiu, model Adut Akech and Ugandan politician Robert Kyagulanyi who is better known as Bobi Wine.
Wanuri is a Kenyan film director known for the controversial movie Rafiki about two teenage girls falling in love in Nairobi.
The film, which was initially banned in Kenya because of its depiction of a same-sex relationship, also made history as the first from Kenya to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
“Wanuri has the vision, wild imagination and depth to deliver—and her films have a knack for casting a spell,” The Time article reads.
Wanuri gushed about making the list on Twitter.
I’m on the first #TIME100Next list! https://t.co/Frym5vLS79
So proud! So happy! So pleased to represent ?? !!! ❤️— Wanuri (@wanuri) November 13, 2019
The list also has Mr Wine. In 2017, he ran for, and won a seat in parliament and now the 37-year-old singer, has set his sights higher, announcing in July that he will take on President Yoweri Museveni in the polls.
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“Eighty percent of our population is under the age of 35,” Wine says. “They deserve a leader who works for the future of Uganda, not for himself.”
This is exceedingly humbling. Dedicating this recognition to the young people of Uganda, esp the ghetto youth. May this be a reminder & encouragement that you’re not what your detractors say you are. You are what you choose to be! https://t.co/xPqpgym81e pic.twitter.com/ML1WTNUfvJ
— BOBI WINE (@HEBobiwine) November 14, 2019
Times adds that if there’s anyone who embodies the future of fashion, it’s Adut Akech.
Since making her major debut three years ago, the supermodel has scored multiple international Vogue covers (including the British Vogue guest-edited by the Duchess of Sussex) and landed coveted gigs like closing the Chanel haute couture show as the “bride.”
Akech, who was born in South Sudan before her family fled to Kenya and later Australia, has also made concerted efforts to make the fashion industry more inclusive. Among her initiatives include calling out racism and amplifying the stories of her fellow refugees.