Sharon Momanyi Confirms KTN Exit After 10 Years

Celebrated media personality, news anchor and senior reporter Sharon Momanyi on Thursday, April 6 announced her exit from KTN News after 10 years.

Momanyi shared photos of her early days at the station on Twitter after she joined as an intern, deployed to cover human interest stories among others across the country.

She appreciated the Standard Media Group (SMG) for offering her a platform to shine in her craft as well as her interviewees for allowing her to tell their stories to members of the public.

“2nd April 2013: Young intern joins KTN newsroom with lofty ambitions of telling stories that change people’s lives.

Sharon Momanyi during her early days at KTN. /TWITTER.SHARON MOMANYI

"2nd April 2023: Leave with nothing but gratitude for the trust of those that have shared their stories with me & a platform to make a difference. What a decade!" she wrote, without disclosing her next move amidst encouraging and congratulatory messages.

Momanyi, who joined KTN in 2013 as an intern, rose to become a Features Editor in 2018, just days after winning the Media Council of Kenya’s Annual Journalism Excellence Award (AJEA) – Journalist of the Year, 2018 award.

During her tenure, Momanyi undoubtedly left a mark on the media world, telling stories that changed people’s lives and making a difference in the community.

On October 21, 2022, she got engaged after she was surprised with a wedding proposal at her son's second birthday party. Her fiance went on his knees and popped the question while holding an engagement ring. 

A visually shocked Momanyi was caught by surprise as her friends and family cheered her on. The journalist, who was overwhelmed by emotions, could not hold her tears back as she accepted the fiance's proposal.

"Mrs Katambani has a nice ring to it, " she, later on, announced on her social media pages and also wished her son a happy birthday. 

'Happy second birthday, KK! You are a Child of God. You are wonderfully made. Dearly loved, and precious in His sight," she stated as she quoted Psalms 139.

The award-winning journalist describes herself as a communication consultant working with development organisations. She also has a focus on telling human interest stories, according to her LinkedIn bio.

"An award-winning journalist in Kenya, telling human-interest stories, with a special focus on sustainable development reportage. I am also a communications consultant working with a number of development organizations in designing messages aimed at informing masses and influencing policy for sustainable progress in specific sectors," she states in part.

Momanyi's exit comes amidst a financial crisis to have affected SMG, coupled with mass firings that have exposed the media house to talent poaching from its rivals.

On Friday, March 24, SMG's former employees through law firm Turunga Ithagi & Associates Advocates wrote to the media house demanding their salaries that were withheld in the years 2020-2021 in the guise that the COVID-19 pandemic meant they should be subjected to salary cuts.

The demand letter seen by Viral Tea revealed that on or about January 17, 2023, SMG had issued the ex-employees with payment plans for their final dues where it indicated that payment would be made in instalments on the following dates:

"Immediately (Net salary arrears up to 31.12.2022); On or before 15th February 2023; On or before 15th March 2023; On or before 15th April 2023; and On or before 15th May 2023.

"Despite the fact that our clients had been declared redundant, they were left with no choice but to accept the terms of the staggered payment plan. Little did they know that they were signing a document that would not be honoured and now suspect that it was only a scheme to have them accept the redundancy with the enticement that they would be receiving a “redundancy package”," read the letter in part.