Previous Moth storytellers during a past Moth event/HANDOUT
The Moth will return to Nairobi on November 7 for its seventh Mainstage event in the city.
The event will be held at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa’s LRC Auditorium.
It will feature five storytellers from Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. They will share personal stories live and without notes.
The event, hosted by Kenyan media entrepreneur and women’s rights advocate Adelle Onyango, will be held under the theme “Now or Never”.
The stories will touch on HIV, tuberculosis, armed robbery, survival and family responsibility.
Shakirah Namwanje, founder of the WOMANDLA Foundation Uganda and an HIV and sexual and reproductive health rights advocate, will share her experience of confronting an HIV diagnosis while holding on to her dream of becoming a mother.
Bernard Mbugua, a human rights defender and EndTB campaign champion, will tell the story of his TB diagnosis as a teenager.
His story will focus on the choice he faced between his grandfather’s traditional, spiritual methods and modern medicine.
Odun Orimolade, a Lagos-based artist, researcher and curator, will recount an encounter with an armed robber during a robbery.
Anne Obure, a hydrotherapist, swimming coach and business coach, will tell the story of a scuba-certification retreat that became a survival ordeal.
Mahmood Bangura, a Sierra Leonean social scientist and educator, will share his experience of becoming his niece’s guardian following a death in the family.
Bangura, a father of two, will speak about his determination to give his niece the education and opportunities her mother would have given her.
The event organisers said the stories will explore moments when waiting was no longer an option.
“Every Moth Mainstage poses a question. In Nairobi this year it is simple: what do you do when the moment is now or never? Do you have the courage to leap? Kenya is home to a vast community of storytellers and a storytelling tradition, and it has been a centre for Moth storytelling workshops for almost 15 years. This year’s Pan-African cast, with stories of maternal and child health, safety, family, and sheer physical grit, are proof that Kenyan audiences don’t just watch daring; they live it.”
Sarah Austin Jenness, Executive Producer, The Moth
Adelle Onyango said the stories had continued to create a connection with audiences.
“Seven years into hosting this stage, I still find myself deeply moved by the stories that grace the Moth stage and how much connection they spark. This year’s storytellers are carrying personal stories: an HIV diagnosis, a TB recovery, a robbery, a retreat that nearly broke them, and a young man’s vow to raise his niece the way her mother would have. By the end of the night, every one of those stories will belong to all of us in that room, not just to them.”
Josephine Macharia, producer of The Moth, said the five storytellers had experienced moments that required them to act.
“None of these five storytellers walked in thinking they had a story worth sharing on a global stage. What we discovered is that each of them had lived through a defining moment where they had to act, and simply couldn’t wait any longer. It was now or never. On 7 November, Nairobi will get to hear five personal stories and experience the magical power of true stories told live.”
The event will be held on Saturday, November 7, 2026, at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa’s LRC Auditorium.
The storytellers are Anne Obure, Shakirah Namwanje, Odun Orimolade, Bernard Mbugua and Mahmood Bangura.
