Mukami Wambora Quits Citizen TV After Five Years

However, details of her departure were not disclosed as she did not leave with a celebratory farewell

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Oct 26, 2022 - 14:31 Updated: Oct 26, 2022 - 14:32
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Mukami Wambora Quits Citizen TV After Five Years
An image of Citizen TV's Mukami Wambora. /FILE

Joyce Mukami Wambora is the latest major departure from Citizen TV, having been at the station since 2017.

Viral Tea spoke to sources within the Royal Media Services (RMS) media house 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 to this writer.

However, details of her departure were not disclosed as she did not leave with a celebratory farewell, typical of journalists at the Kilimani-based media house boasting the country's biggest TV station.

Mukami Wambora posing next to a statue of Thierry Henry at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium in London, United Kingdom. /MUKAMI WAMBORA

Wambora has not been on air for a considerable period where she presented the sports news at 9 pm prime time, the lunchtime news bulletin on selected weekends and at times a host and pundit on Sporty Monday every morning.

She has also been keeping her exit low key as well as details of her next move, with a number of social media posts showing her travels across the world.

However, social media posts on Saturday, October 22 of her at Capital FM studios based at Lornho House in Nairobi on the Saturday Music and Sports show segment raised eyebrows, alongside the caption which teased where she would end up next.

"Tune in to Capital FM Kenya for Saturday Music and Sports with me DJ UV live and the sports moran. We are discussing all the latest in Sports including the #TexasGP this weekend and Benzema‘s Ballon D’or. Did he deserve it? Oh and Liverpool is losing," she tweeted. 

Viral Tea has learnt of a possible deal in the works, but details of it were yet to be finalised. If realised, it could mark her comeback to the radio station where she spent the early days of her media career.

Mukami Wambora Profile

Wambora is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya with some years of experience in the legal field. She studied law at the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom and joined the Kenya School of Law, afterwhich she worked as a Legal Assistant for a local bank on weekdays and during the weekends she used to host and analyse a sports show on Capital FM between 2011 and 2016.

However, she left her legal career in 2016 to venture into sports journalism full-time. Her unwavering passion for one of the most exciting fields in journalism saw her go from strength to strength, from a little-known personality to match up to the likes of Carol Radull, one of the best female sports journalists in the country.

She joined Radio Africa Group in 2016 which had Bamba Sports at the time. Mukami was the pioneer presenter of the 24-hour sports station alongside three other journalists and hosted the Monday Night Football TV Show as well as produced, scripted and anchored Sports Zone News.

After one year, she joined Citizen TV which was reinforcing its lineup of presenters to become currently the country's biggest TV station. It was here that she exploded into the limelight.

That was in 2017 and in 2018, she was suddenly covering the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia as well as the 2018 Berlin Marathon where she interviewed Eliud Kipchoge and the 2019 INEOS Challenge in Austria where the legendary marathoner became the first human being to run a whole marathon under two hours. She also covered the 2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and is well known for her love of Formula One.

She has interviewed global sports personalities such as Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, Brazil legend Ronaldinho and Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand among others.

Mukami, who also happens to be Embu Governor Martin Wambora's daughter, is an ardent Arsenal fan. She was in the United Kingdom to cover the business end of the 2021/22 English Premier League season, paying visits to Arsenal's Emirates Stadium, Manchester City's Etihad Stadium and Liverpool's Anfield.

Her life away from TV is a thrilling, fun-filled lifestyle that most people don't know of. Apart from ravishingly good looks, she is very good at playing football and has a few skills up her sleeves. In fact, in 2019, she featured as a striker for the female football team at the University of Liverpool.

She also is the co-founder of a mental health start-up, Uko Sawa, an online platform (mobile and web application) that makes counselling more accessible to young people by connecting them to a qualified counsellor in a simple, convenient, secure and cost-effective way.

Her exit leaves Citizen TV's sports desk vulnerable, with veteran journalist Mike Okinyi currently the last standing prominent sports personality at the station, which is said to be sourcing for talent externally and within the RMS media house.

This also leaves the TV station dilapidated, with the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar just weeks away and its competitor, state-owned KBC, planning to send its journalists to the Middle-East country to cover the football tournament.

A collage of Mukami Wambora with sports journalists Bernard Ndong, Idah Waringa, Mike Okinyi, Carol Radull among others. /MUKAMI WAMBORA

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