Citizen TV Announces Yvonne Okwara As Waihiga Mwaura's Replacement
Replacing her on the Tonight Show on Thursday will be Sam Gituku, who currently hosts DayBreak every Monday and Tuesday
Marvin Chege 
Citizen TV, Kenya's biggest TV station, has announced that its news anchor, Yvonne Okwara-Matole, will take over from Waihiga Mwaura on the Tuesday 9 pm news bulletin.
The sharp-shooting news anchor will now be hosting The Explainer with Yvonne Okwara every Tuesday at 9 pm, which will replace Waihiga's popular #NewsNight show. She currently hosts the Tonight Show every Thursday at 9 pm.
Replacing her on the Tonight Show on Thursday will be Sam Gituku, who currently hosts DayBreak every Monday and Tuesday, with his Thursday show now called Tonight with Sam Gituku.
Citizen TV's Sam Gituku during a past news bulletin. /FACEBOOK.SAM GITUKU
"We understand that news is no longer just news, there has to be a meaning behind news and we are responding to the needs that are arising and the challenge that is being placed on us by our audiences," said Royal Media Services Editorial Director Linus Kaikai on the changes.
Praising Okwara as "a strong accountability-driven journalist with a strong record in public interest reporting", Kaikai further expressed that her show will help audiences understand the news better, owing to her record of driving forward the Explainer.
"The Explainer comes in because we acknowledge that our audiences are demanding to understand the meaning behind events.
"They want to understand the implications of the news events that we cover and how they affect their livelihoods. This is an answers platform," he went on.
For Sam Gituku, Kaikai said: "We will be introducing Sam Gituku. He brings the unique strength of data journalism, just understanding those numbers and breaking them down.
"When Kenyans are being told three per cent of their salaries goes to Housing, what exactly does that mean? Sam will be walking through those numbers explaining those numbers, breaking them down in a way that our audiences will consume better."
The changes came after Waihiga left Citizen TV after 14 years on Tuesday, May 2 and joined the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) the following day.
Hours later, he was treated to a surprise farewell by his wife, Joyce Omondi, and colleagues, including Trevor Ombija, on his final Newsnight show.
"You are a great person and a fantastic journalist," Ombija stated as he went on to unveil the surprise that was waiting for him.
Despite Waihiga seemingly caught off guard by the surprise, he argued that Omondi was bound to celebrate him as they worked together at Royal Media Services (RMS).
"I actually had a feeling this would happen. Thank you, love," as he hugged his wife.
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