KBC's Caren Kibbett Wins Two Awards In Zambia

Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) sports anchor, Caren Kibbett on Saturday, October 15 bagged two awards at the Zikomo Africa Awards 2022 in Lusaka, Zambia.

Kibbett won the Best TV Personality of the Year and Best Journalist of the Year, having been shortlisted for both.

Taking to social media, she expressed her delight after winning the awards and credited her family for their personal sacrifices which she termed as instrumental to her journalism career.

Caren Kibbett posing with one of her awards. /FACEBOOK.CAREN KIBBETT

"I dedicate this award to my family especially my Mum without whom, I would not be here today. Your painstaking personal sacrifices have paid off," she stated.

She also thanked KBC acting Managing director Samuel Maina as well as her colleagues at the media house and in the sports journalism field for supporting her and guiding her throughout her career.

Kibbett also thanked Kenyans who watched her at home in the country and beyond as well as those who celebrated her on social media and gave her a warm welcome, promising them that she would step up her skills in Kenyan sports journalism.

"To my Great Boss, Mr Samuel Maina, Wonderful colleagues, and Kenya sports fraternity, I’m forever grateful and eternally indebted to you for the lessons and for believing in me. I salute you!

"To the ever-patient, probing and loving viewers in Kenya and beyond, who have welcomed me to their living rooms and social spaces invited, I can’t thank you enough. God bless you. I promise to scale up the sterling standards of sports journalism," she added, also thanking Zikomo Awards for honouring her.

Nicknamed the Marakwet Express, Kibbett was previously at K24 TV up until June 2020 when she was among hundreds of journalists who were laid off by Mediamax Networks, which owns the station, in a controversial move that swept clean its entire newsroom.

In June 2021, she made a comeback to TV screens after unveiling her own show dubbed #InsideSports that aired via her YouTube Channel. In August of that year, KBC poached her following a massive rebranding in July 2021 in a bid to get back to its glory days.

She presents the latest in sports news on the national broadcaster every Monday to Friday at 9 pm. At KBC, she works alongside Ahmed Juma Bhalo, Nancy Onyancha and Shiksha Arora, who worked with her at K24 and were also affected by the mass layoffs at Mediamax in 2020.

She went viral in July thanks to a photo on Instagram of her taking viewers through the four presidential candidates at the time; William Ruto (now president-elect), Raila Odinga, George Wajackoyah and David Mwaure while she was promoting the schedule of the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, USA, which was broadcasted by the state-owned media house.

Her outfit at the time was a hugging, dark turquoise-blue dress that accentuated her God-given curves in a way that Kenyan men find it hard to delete from their minds.

“At least my page tries, I have a post that hit 55k, another 40k, 20k and several 10ks,” she said to Viral Tea in a previous interview. She has over 62,600 followers on the platform.

Other award winners in the Zikomo Awards included Citizen TV's Lulu Hassan also bagged the Zikomo Africa Award in the Category of Best Movie/Series producer of the year Africa.

Zikomo Awards is an International Award ceremony that acknowledges and celebrates individuals and organisations who are contributing positively and doing well in various industries, such as Art and Entrepreneurs. It also recognises Humanitarians who are contributing well by helping the needy in communities.

KBC sports anchor, Caren Kibbett's outfit at Zikomo Awards in Lusaka, Zambia. /VIRALTEAKE