Carol Radull Recounts Meeting Jeff Koinange While At Reuters

Kenya's renowned sports journalist Carol Radull's interaction with renowned media personality Jeff Koinange can be traced to as far back as the mid-90s when she was working under Reuters as a reporter.

Speaking during an interview with journalists Mark Masai and Dennis Okari on their show, The Social Newsroom, on Monday, February 6, Radull took a trip down memory lane to her days at Reuters where she was serving under the late Kenyan photojournalist Mohamed Amin.

She began at the Africa Journal, which was eventually snapped up by Reuters, and it was at the multinational media house that she came face to face with Koinange.

Carol Radull speaking at The Social Newsroom on February 6, 2023. /YOUTUBE

"I started with Reuters...I started with camera picks because I was first hired by Mohamed Amin (the late, great) for one year at Africa Journal, that's when it was taken by Reuters, so when I moved to Reuters...Africa Journal was under Reuters.

"That's when I met Jeff Koinange, I was his big sister at work...not in age but because I've been there longer than him," she narrated, adding that she showed him some basics at the media house, including the location of the washroom and his work station.

She further reminisced making fun of his walking style until she discovered that it was his form, not his swag, behind the walking style.

Radull further noted that at Reuters, one would handle both the media house and Africa Journal. At some point, a business reporter attached there was posted to Dar es Salaam, and recommendations started coming her way to take his place. 

Though hesitant, she was assigned various business stories and asked to fill in the desk pending a replacement.

"I was told 'until we find a replacement, you're going to do business news'. I did business news for Reuters for a couple of months until they found someone, but I was still doing television as well.

"I loved doing Reuters television because I was a producer, I was behind the scenes, you cover the whole of East Africa so you're going to Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Eritrea...so you're doing the whole region, covering news and social affairs and then I was poached by the BBC, so I went there for two years in the World Service doing radio and television and the good thing at BBC is that they were trying to get Kenyans to break through and do stories, so every now and then I'd get a story to do, even though I was a producer," she went on, adding that she was eventually fired from the BBC.

Radull further disclosed that her termination from BBC had nothing to do with her performance but rather a side hustle she was doing while at the company, which was considered unethical. 

With regards to the aftermath of the firing, she had disclosed in a 2021 interview with the Nation that it was a devastating affair since she wasn’t quite prepared for the financial headwinds she suddenly found herself in, coupled with a bloodcurdling incident in post-genocide Rwanda. 

Since then, she has risen to be one of the most famous sports personalities in the country and has been advocating for the mainstreaming of local sports similar to how popular sports competitions around the world dominate conversations in Kenya.

The former Kiss 100 FM presenter had amassed 21 years at Radio Africa and grew to a household name synonymous with avid sports fans and pundits.

During her tenure, she launched Radio Jambo and subsequently hired Gidi Gidi and Ghost Mulee. Radull is also credited for launching the Radio Africa Group Limited (RAL) Digital department.

In 2021, she joined the Nation Media Group (NMG) after her Radio Africa stint where she hosted a new show on NTV and Nation FM.

She has been using the platform to advance what she termed the sports agenda, targeting athletes, authorities and fans “to make them understand their role in sports", advocating for increased social media presence amongst athletes and sports journalists as well as increased coverage of sports in media houses.

Nation FM radio presenter Carol Radull in the studio on August 14, 2021, at Nation Centre. /DAILY NATION