KTN Journalist Who Challenged Ruto's Use Of Private Jet Over KQ Joins Citizen TV
On Thursday, June 6, Too took to his official TikTok account sharing a clip of himself being driven to the Dennis Pritt Road-based media house.
Marvin Chege 
Emmanuel Too, a promising political and investigative reporter has joined Royal Media Services (RMS) TV station Citizen TV, bidding farewell to KTN News under Standard Group Limited.
On Thursday, June 6, Too took to his official TikTok account sharing a clip of himself being driven to the Dennis Pritt Road-based media house.
As of Friday, June 7, our spot checks indicated some noticeable changes that took place on his X and Facebook accounts which read 'Political affairs reporter at Citizen TV', an indication of his new stint at the country's largest TV station.
In his farewell message, Too appreciated Standard Group as well as his managers and colleagues for supporting him through the five years he spent at the station.
Political affairs reporter Emmanuel Too. /EMMANUEL TOO
"Some Personal news: Fellow *CITIZENs*,
"Today was my last day working for Standard Group PLC (KTN News). I thank God, the Company, all my managers and colleagues for the stories shared, connections made and lessons learnt for the past 5 years. See you soon! God bless!" he wrote.
Too has been working as a politics and governance reporter for KTN News since he joined the Mombasa-road-based company in August 2019.
His exit came days after his story aired on KTN News calling a bluff on President William Ruto's explanation for deciding to hire a luxurious private jet to the United States (US) for his visit as compared to flying commercially with Kenya Airways (KQ), which operates direct flights between the American nation and Kenya.
Ruto argued that the jet presented the cheapest option compared to using commercial means, saying on his X account that "As a responsible steward of public resources and in keeping with my determination for us to live within our means and that I should lead from the front in so doing, the cost was less than travelling on KQ."
Too however carried out a fact-check on the costs associated with both travel methods. Kenya Airways operates direct flights between JFK International Airport in New York and Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), with a flight time of 15 hours.
On requesting a quote from the Kenya Airways website regarding a business-class ticket for the Nairobi-New York leg, he found out that a business-class seat costs approximately Ksh847,000.
When rounded up to Ksh1 million per ticket, the total cost for all seats equivalent to those in President Ruto's Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) was viewed to be Ksh34 million. The BBJ for Ruto's trip had eight VIP seats, eight business seats, and 18 standard seats.
If the KQ tickets were booked with respect to the differentiated class of seats in the chartered plane, the cost would have been significantly less, with a difference of approximately Ksh164 million, according to his report, suggesting that Ruto's claim about the cost of hiring the jet being less than travelling commercially did not hold water.
A budding and talented journalist, Too holds a degree in Communication and Public Relations. While at the Mombasa Road-based firm, he also published for the Standard Newspaper and Standard Digital.
Too isn't the only recent recruitment to Citizen TV. Also joining the ranks is Willy Lusige, an award-winning journalist who has experience in current affairs reporting, who joined following his departure back on November 3, 2023, after a six-year journey with the media company.
Taking to his social media platforms, the bilingual reporter thanked colleagues, mentors, and friends who stood with him during his stay at SG.
“Great people, it has been six years at Standard Media Group as a reporter at KTN News. Time really flies so fast. After an incredible journey that began in 2017 as a young reporter, it is time to say goodbye. From reporting to creating memories, it had been an unforgettable ride,” he wrote.
Viral Tea has also learnt that investigative reporter Francis Odee, also from KTN, joined the moneyed RMS which reportedly also recruited Melita ole Tenges from NTV who has been serving as a senior political reporter and standby news anchor.
This relentless recruiting by the media giant was evident to members of the public when it snapped up Olive Burrows, also from NTV, to replace Victoria Rubadiri who left to join CNN.
