Kenyan Journalists Who Became News Themselves In 2022

Maybe it's the resignations, or meeting the President. Could be high-octane interviews...

admin admin
Dec 23, 2022 - 15:33 Updated: Dec 23, 2022 - 20:03
0
Kenyan Journalists Who Became News Themselves In 2022
Collage of journalists Liz Jackson, Eric Njiru and Caren Kibbett. /VIRALTEAKE

The duty of a journalist is to provide information to members of the public through the news. Given the adage that 'news never sleeps', this is a 365-day environment that will still be kept busy even during the festive season.

However, journalists being the news providers sometimes become news themselves, especially if one is a TV anchor or working in a mainstream media house known by the masses. Some journalists attached to digital platforms have even gone viral themselves.

Maybe it's the resignations, or meeting the President. Could be high-octane interviews...one minute you're behind the scenes, the next you're as popular as a celebrity on gossip blogs et al.

Viral Tea takes a look at journalists who have made headlines in 2022:

Dennis Okari & Mark Masai

The two established themselves as bigwigs while at NTV for years. Unfortunately, they were sent packing by the Nation Media Group (NMG) in a mass firing exercise that went after its senior journalists.

Collage of former NTV news anchors Mark Masai and Dennis Okari. /FILE

Since then, they linked up for a show together dubbed The Social Newsroom and had their first show on Thursday, December 15 where they recounted their careers in the media space as well as promising to open up the show to untold stories and interviews.

Their first show turned out to be a huge success and to date, it has been watched over 25,000 times on YouTube.

Liz Jackson & Miss Kithinji

The two were budding reporters working at SPM Buzz but this year will go down as one of their biggest due to their involvement in assignments involving President William Ruto's government.

Betty Kithinji (Miss Kithinji) became an overnight celebrity when she was filmed doing her daily duties at the inauguration ceremony of President Ruto on Tuesday, September 13 at Kasarani Stadium. She just happened to be caught off-guard by the Head of State waving at her from his ceremonial vehicle.

In a recent interview, Kithinji noted that it didn't strike her at the time because she was unsure that the President was waving at her before her colleague assured her that he did. On going back to the office, she confirmed that it was her that President Ruto waved at.

The colleague who filmed the whole proceedings was Liz Jackson, who became one of Kenya's biggest young journalist celebrities when a video of her interaction with Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary (CS) Alfred Mutua at State House on Wednesday, November 9 went viral.

Mukami Wambora

While it is typical for journalists to announce on social media their exit from the media houses they worked at, Mukami's case was different as she became one of the few journalists to silently leave Citizen TV.

Usually, there would be fanfare that would be associated with Citizen TV anchors leaving the station after being there for a considerable amount of time, but this did not apply to her case. In fact, her exit was largely kept under wraps until fans began to express concern about why she wasn't on air for weeks.

Viral Tea spoke to sources within the Royal Media Services (RMS) media house in October 2022 and revealed that she silently left the station around the same time her former colleague, Bernard Ndong, joined NTV.

"She left a long time ago. Almost at the same time as when Ndong joined NTV," the source intimated then.

Since then, she has documented on Instagram constant updates of her fast-paced lifestyle that one would find in celebrities, and was in Qatar at the 2022 FIFA World Cup alongside another headline-making journalist:

Journalists Mukami Wambora and Eric Njiru watching Germany vs Costa Rica at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. /INSTAGRAM.MUKAMI WAMBORA

Eric Njiru

Arguably no Kenyan journalist has covered bit by bit of the FIFA World Cup straight from Qatar other than Njiru, who is a presenter at Homeboyz Radio and works at Radio Africa Group.

One would not miss a pre-match press conference involving various teams as he shared updates of the same across social media platforms, particularly Twitter, earning plaudits from sports fans across the world.

If you wanted to watch training sessions of the team you supported at the World Cup, he got you. He even did a face-to-face interview with legendary English football commentator, Peter Drury.

The staunch Liverpool fan also hosts HBR Fanzone every Saturdays alongside Lotan Salapei, Zuhum Omar and DJ John and is well known for being a thorn amongst Manchester United and Arsenal fans in Kenya.

He started out at Pamoja FM in Kibera before moving to Citizen TV as a sports sub-editor. He also writes for The Star and is the Chief Writer for Ragahouse.com.

Caren Kibbett

2022 was a standout year for Kibbett as her ravishingly good looks at the station blew up tenfold in July thanks to a photo on Instagram of her taking viewers through the four presidential candidates at the time; William Ruto (now president), 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 an exclusive interview.

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.

On Saturday, October 15, she bagged two awards at the Zikomo Africa Awards 2022 in Lusaka, Zambia; Best TV Personality of the Year and Best Journalist of the Year, having been shortlisted for both.

Hussein Mohamed

The former Citizen TV news anchor was a vital part of President William Ruto's campaigns leading up to the August 9 general elections, selling the image and manifesto of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) which contributed to Ruto's victory over Raila Odinga of the Azimio la Umoja camp.

More blessings were to come his way when President Ruto appointed him as State House spokesperson, replacing Kanze Dena who served in the same capacity under former President Uhuru Kenyatta, who was also formerly at Citizen TV.

"Mr President William Ruto, I’m grateful and humbled by the honour you have bestowed upon me to serve as State House Spokesperson. I pledge to tirelessly work in supporting you deliver the plan to achieve greatness for our republic.

"Thanks, patriots for your congratulatory messages," he wrote on Saturday, October 15.

Rukia Bulle

She was a little-known entity before she was forced into the limelight when her encounter with former Education Cabinet Secretary, George Omore Magoha was captured in a video that caused uproar across the country.

She took to social media to send her message of appreciation to her followers who reached out to her following the clip that saw Magoha reportedly profiling her as a member of the Al Shabaab terrorist group.

"I just wanted to come on here and say thank you to anyone who took the time out of their day to send me nice messages or to check up on me.

"All your support does not go unnoticed. We’ll keep thriving regardless of anything thrown our way," she said in a TikTok video. Magoha eventually apologised to her after an intervention from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji.

A collage of NTV reporter, Rukia Bulle. /INSTAGRAM

Zubeida Koome

KTN News anchor, Zubeida Kananu Koome was picked to moderate two debates; the Nairobi gubernatorial and the deputy presidential debate.

It was the former that drew fodder for conversation across the country following the heated exchange between her and Nairobi governor Johnson Sakaja.

The back and forth on Monday, July 11 began when Sakaja was put to task regarding his degree saga, sparked by his opponent, Polycarp Igathe who claimed that his degree certificate from Team University in Uganda was doctored.

Igathe then waded in by even questioning the integrity of the name 'Sakaja', as part of ascertaining whether it was his real name. But the UDA candidate was annoyed when Zubeida asked the same question.

Yvonne Okwara

The Citizen TV prime-time anchor was picked for the presidential debate which Raila skipped, leaving Ruto to face the moderators by himself.

Okwara moderated the debate alongside Eric Latiff of Spice FM and KTN News, under the Standard Media Group (SMG). Kenyans had particularly lauded the news anchor for her challenging questions to Ruto, which in his capacity was struggling to answer.

"It is an operation like I have never witnessed and I have been in this industry about 16, 17 years. All media houses, from all departments, were present.

"That was a massive operation, there was no media house, we were all one newsroom and it was moving in sync as if we've all been working together for decades," she described during a subsequent NewsGang show.

Stephen Letoo & Chemutai Goin

During his speech following the Supreme Court victory on Monday, September 5, President Ruto singled out the two prominent Citizen TV reporters much to the amusement of everyone in attendance at the Karen official Deputy President's residence.

"Where are my good friends from Citizen?" he asked, to which Brenda Wanga stepped in to question him on graft. He responded with "And how is my good friend Letoo, by the way? And Chemutai Goin?" 

Elizabeth Mutuku

Her nomination to the Senate by Wiper party leader, Kalonzo Musyoka might have failed to materialise but that did not break the spirit of TV47's news anchor, political and parliamentary reporter.

"Having been in a volatile, sometimes treacherous political terrain, I fully know well someone’s name does not end up in a clogged list of a political party by accident. 

"It takes painstaking deliberate effort and lobbying. I’m therefore honoured by the trust and confidence Wiper and Party leader bestowed in slotting my name," she wrote in her emotional message on Monday, October 17.

Despite her nomination not culminating in her swearing-in at the National Assembly to represent the youth, she expressed gratitude to Kalonzo who acted as a father figure in her life and cited his belief in growing the next generation of leaders amongst the youth to higher positions.

TV47 anchor, Lizah Mutuku. /FACEBOOK.LIZAH MUTUKU