After two eliminations, Nakuru poet Chotara finds redemption on the Slam Africa stage
Chotara the poet during his perfomance at the upgrade poetry event on August 27, 2023.
When Sammy Ngahu, also known as ‘Chotara Poet’, took to the Slam Africa Festival pop-up stage earlier this week, he was bearing the burden of two previous eliminations and the steely determination of a poet who was not prepared to give up.
By the end of the night, the Nakuru-based spoken word artiste had won the pop-up title. While this does not guarantee him a place in January's Grand Slam, it has reaffirmed his belief that he belongs on the country's biggest poetry stages. Earlier this year, he was eliminated twice in the preliminaries.
"I never gave up," he says, noting that each elimination forced him to confront gaps in his craft rather than retreat from the platform.
However, his win comes with a caveat: it does not automatically secure his place among the nine poets set to compete in the Grand Slam, unless one of the qualifiers drops out.
Nevertheless, he believes the significance of the win goes beyond qualification mechanics. “It’s a big step,” he says. “It has shown me that consistency actually pays.”
Chotara was the only poet from Nakuru on the pop-up stage. Another poet from Nakuru had been expected to perform, but did not show up. This left Chotara to represent the county alone against Nairobi-based poets Wanja Writes, DivinePoet@254 and Binti Aisha66.
He says this context added weight to the moment, especially for younger poets back home.
"There are poets in Nakuru who look up to me. This becomes a blueprint for them to follow," he says proudly.
When asked what had changed from his previous performances to make him clinch first place, Chotara said it was listening to the feedback given to him by the judges, which he had dismissed earlier.
"In the second and third preliminaries, I didn't really take the judges' advice on board," he admits. "After being eliminated twice, I decided to change my approach to my poems and actually listen."
The feedback he received told him to cut back on his words, trust restraint, and explore the range on stage to avoid monotony.
"As a poet, you don't need to write too much," he says. “As long as your point has hit home, even if it's just two lines, that's okay.”
After the pop-up performance, one judge told him, “Chotara, I love the way you listened to me and clearly followed the instructions.”
While he understands that winning the pop-up event does not guarantee him a spot with the nine qualifiers on the Grand Slam stage in January (unless one of them drops out), Chotara is adamant that the win has cemented his place in the competitive poetry landscape.
"It showed me I have a place in this world. But if I don’t step up, I can lose that spot. Someone else could take it," he says.
He plans to return in 2026 and enter the preliminaries again, confident that he will progress.
“I feel like I’m the next Grand Slam champion. I feel like I’m supposed to put Kenya on the map,” he says.
Beyond competition, Chotara situates his work at the intersection of faith and social awareness.
He describes himself as a gospel minister who uses spoken word poetry as a vehicle, while remaining open to addressing social issues as they arise.
He acknowledges that he was initially influenced by established poets such as Willie Oeba, but his path has since diverged.
Chotara is confident that this win will transform his career as a poet and his writing. Moreover, it will raise his profile among his peers, earning him a seat at the table where his work will be taken seriously, facilitating better collaborations and giving him a stronger voice in Kenya's poetry circles.