Celebrity politics is described as a phenomenon in which celebrities create a ‘buzz’ around certain issues or crises regarding development. Or, differently put, in celebrity politics celebrities...Show moreCelebrity politics is described as a phenomenon in which celebrities create a ‘buzz’ around certain issues or crises regarding development. Or, differently put, in celebrity politics celebrities use their stardom to inform the greater public about a certain humanitarian crisis or issue. Existing studies on celebrity politics mostly discuss celebrities from the global North, attracting attention to the global South’s need for development. Though, there have some been studies on celebrity politics practised by celebrities from the global South. Studied regions include Francophone sub-Sahara Africa, the Middle East, East Asia, South-East Asia and Latin America. One of the regions from the global South that has not been studied much is East Africa. Whereas East African celebrity politics has been studied on a regional level, no major political studies have been conducted at the national level. Exhaustive studies on celebrities with nation-wide fame who use that fame to engage with national politics have hitherto not been done for this part of Africa. So, how useful are existing frameworks for understanding celebrity politics when applied to East Africa?Show less