Mpakani: Story of the North is an attempt at telling a patriotic tale where a few individuals come together and hunt for a terrorist who has threatened to wreak havoc on Kenya. The 10-episode series is a bit too lengthy for the kind of story the makers are trying to tell, and it is clear that the tautness is missing. However, there are some things to note about the show. Despite the story having significant pacing issues and the production value not up to par in some scenes, the show maintains an engaging storyline with inspirations taken from shows like Homeland. There is action, stunts, humor, and tragic deaths in this show, which neatly introduces us to the characters and then puts them together to let the drama begin.
Spoilers Ahead
Who Were The Members Of The Intelligence Unit?
Inspector Torome was on a completely different mission, trying to nab a terrorist, when he saw a sign that reminded him of Burhan, one of the most wanted terrorists in Africa. He had wreaked havoc in Somalia and had plans to execute ‘The Great Attack’ on Kenya. He was training little children for his plan, but Torome had taken him out. When he saw the sign with the new terrorist who was shot down, he was certain that Burhan was alive, as no one else knew about ‘The Great Attack’ which the sign represents. Torome understood that his mission to take out Burhan had failed and he needed to regroup the intelligence team, members of which had no shortage of problems in their personal lives.
Firstly, there was Farah, aka Stingray, who once had been an undercover agent and had a lot of emotional stress returning to the same case. He had had a brush with death when he dealt with Al Hamdu, Burhan’s right-hand man, also known as the ‘bombmaker’. Then there was Abraham, aka Mongoose, who had immigrated from Somalia and had faced a lot of harassment over the years by the local police. Then came Katana, aka Panther. Katana’s wife Lola was pregnant, and he had tried to give her all the luxuries of the world. He had taken a lot of loans for that, which meant that the loan sharks were showing up at his door. Then there was Kibet, aka University, who had a gambling problem as he never paid any attention to whatever was going on around him. His phone had a betting app, and his mind was consumed by it. Lastly, there was Adhis, the only woman in the group, who had a young daughter named Imani. Adhis was worried that her daughter would be taken away by her ex-husband while she was away on the mission.
How Did Al Hamdu Die?
With these five people, Torome wanted to catch Burhan before he succeeded in his mission. He didn’t want to become a laughing stock and wanted to bury Burhan’s chapter once and for all. But first, he had to ensure that Al Hamdu was caught, as he was to lead them to Burhan’s hideout. There was intel that Al Hamdu would be traveling in a truck, and the unit went in to catch him, but in doing so, they didn’t realize that Al Hamdu had crossed the north border and reached Somalia, and so had they. The Somali police disrupted the arrest and arrested Al Hamdu. Not only that, when Torome requested the Somalian cop to let them take Al Hamdu away for questioning because he was the one responsible for making Burhan’s bombs, the Somali cop executed Al Hamdu as an act of retaliation against Burhan.
Why Did Burhan Kill His Own Cousin?
The five officers were dealing with their personal lives and keeping an eye on the area as well. Now that Al Hamdu was gone, they had to figure out a new way to get to Burhan. Mixing with the locals, getting intel, and working undercover were the only ways to get any new information about Burhan. Farah had befriended Maimuna, a lady running an NGO that was helping young girls. Katana and Adhis remained outdoors, clicking photographs of people they suspected to be part of Burhan’s gang. Abraham stayed with the workers and got the necessary information. They knew that Burhan would need another man to create his bombs. But before Burhan got hold of such a man, Al Hamdu’s nephew, who was Burhan’s cousin, jumped the gun and attacked the Border Police, where Torome lost his life. This was the last thing Burhan needed. He didn’t want to do petty damage, but now he risked full-fledged retaliation. He took his cousin’s life and started preparations to get his new bombmaker.
Why Was Farah Being Interrogated?
The last thing Torome told Farah before dying was that he was his uncle. Farah was emotionally in a turbulent place, and this was one more shock that he had to bear. The other major upheaval in his life came when he was undercover. Al Hamdu had asked him to kill a fellow soldier to test his loyalty. Farah had killed Sam, the other undercover officer, to save himself, and now an investigative team was going to interrogate him about what exactly went down during his mission. He had maintained, even to Sam’s wife, that he was hopeful that Sam would return, but that was a lie that was crushing his soul. The only thing that was good in his life was Maimuna, but that too was an unstable relationship, as he had been told by Torome to never make a personal connection with a potential informant, but Farah was doing just that. Perhaps Farah’s disturbed state contributed to this mistake, and he wanted to have a connection with someone so he could have some semblance of love in his life.
Why Did Imran Go Against Burhan?
After Torome’s death, Farah became the leader of the group and went to raid a place, but Burhan’s men had run away, leaving behind their hostages. A man named Imran was beaten badly by Farah because he thought Imran was working for Burhan and just hiding amongst the hostages. His instinct was correct. Abraham had taken Imran to the hospital as a gesture of goodwill and as an apology on behalf of the disturbed Farah. Later, he found that Imran had run away while he was talking to the doctors. That was the moment he figured that Imran could be Burhan’s new bombmaker. Imran had a brother, and his demand was that Burhan should get him to stay with Imran or else he would not work on the bomb. Burhan found out that Imran’s brother was in the custody of the Border Patrol Police, and it wasn’t so easy to get him out. He sent a truck filled with charcoal, which was needed by the Border Patrol to run their camps, in exchange for getting Imran’s brother out. The five intelligence officers were there to latch on to this opportunity to get to Burhan. However, it wouldn’t have been possible without Imran’s help, who betrayed Burhan and told the intelligence team about the trucks.
How Did Burhan Survive?
Burhan was clever not to stay at one point for long. He had to tolerate Imran for a little while, but he had run out of patience. He was planning to move away and kept Imran ready for slaughter if Farah and his team came. Back at the headquarters, Farah was being grilled about Sam’s whereabouts, and pressure was being built to bring Torome’s case to completion. Burhan’s men had seen Farah dealing with Maimuna, and they kidnapped her for leverage.
Burhan’s location was traced through the origin of the charcoal trucks, and homing missiles were deployed to destroy his base, hoping he would die in the attacks. The only ones Farah and his men managed to kill were a few of Burhan’s men who were holding Imran and Maimuna captive. The saddest part of it was that all the kids Burhan was training and Maimuna who was kidnapped, also died in the attack. Farah had received a call just before the attack, and he heard Maimuna’s voice, but it was too late. The missiles had been deployed, and he could do nothing to stop them. Burhan’s wife was upset over the killing of the children, and Burhan sent his cavalry to ambush Farah and his team. It was then that Abraham figured out that Musa, his brother, had joined Burhan. Kibet knew about Musa’s radicalization, but he wasn’t aware that he had joined Burhan’s group. The team fought hard, but Katana was killed. It was tragic, as his son had been born right at the moment Katana breathed his last.
Burhan is still alive, and during Mpakani: Story of the North’s ending, the truth was known to Farah. Burhan knew that Farah was an undercover cop, but he had made Al Hamdu order Farah to kill Sam. That way, Burhan would always have leverage over Farah. Farah had so far managed to avert ‘The Great Attack,’ but it isn’t clear how much longer he can keep his criminal act hidden.
