About Sultana
Sultana is a Kenyan Swahili-language telenovela that premiered on Citizen TV on March 7, 2022, produced by Jiffy Pictures, the company run by Swahili news anchors Lulu Hassan and Rashid Abdalla. Airing weekday evenings in the prime 7:30 PM slot, it stepped directly into the schedule vacated by the popular drama Zora and quickly became one of the most discussed local productions of its run. The series leaned into the coastal, Swahili-speaking storytelling tradition that has become a signature of Jiffy Pictures output.
The story centers on a young woman named Sultana, who lives with a visual impairment and was secretly switched at birth. Saved and raised by a midwife who defied difficult circumstances to protect her, Sultana grows up unaware of her true origins. As the layers of that hidden past begin to surface, the drama follows her search for belonging amid family secrets, romance, betrayal, and the ambitions of those around her, including the imposing Major Jabali and the community elder figure Babu.
Built in the daily telenovela format, Sultana blended family melodrama, romance, and social intrigue across a large ensemble of Kenyan and coastal performers. The production drew attention for its Swahili dialogue, its grounded depiction of life along the Kenyan coast, and its handling of themes such as disability, identity, and class. It concluded in 2023 and was succeeded in its Citizen TV slot by the Jiffy Pictures drama Becky. This page is AI-drafted from public sources and flagged for human fact-check.
