Sophia Wanuna Quits KTN: Here's Why

KTN News anchor and Deputy Editor, Broadcast, Sophia Wanuna called it quits at the Standard Group Limited, in another massive blow to the century-old media house.

Highly-placed sources at the media house who spoke to Viral Tea had confirmed that she was set to leave the Mombasa Road-based media house by Friday, April 21, having tendered her resignation.

However, the sources revealed that the news anchor had been having collisions with reporters as well as the work ethic that came with being appointed to a senior role at the media house and that her decision to quit was based on the looming consequences of her back and forth with staff at Standard Group.

Wanuna has also been considerably inactive on her social media handles with her last post being a promo for an exclusive interview with Azimio la Umoja leader, Raila Odinga, hosted by news anchors Ali Manzu and Ken Mijungu, on Twitter on February 28, 2023.

Sophia Wanuna at KTN News studios. /FILE

She was also revealed to be off air for several weeks as her final appearance on KTN was at a show on Spice FM dated February 7, 2023, where she was a guest host to discuss matters of politics.

Another source intimated to Viral Tea that Wanuna's decision to leave could be attributed to the salary crisis to have affected SMG, coupled with mass firings that have exposed the media house to talent poaching from its rivals.

As of the time of publishing this story, up to 40 per cent of the dues for December were paid in the month of April. The sources further intimated changes to Standard Group in the coming months that could include changes to its top leadership as Wanuna's next move remains unknown.

Still, Wanuna's departure is a hammer blow to the media house that has lost a lot of talented stars to resignations and firings, especially if one was to take note of her years of experience, leadership and prowess in reporting across various issues. 

Sophia previously hosted KTN News' political show, on Sundays at 9:00 pm Checkpoint and was a lead reporter on The Big Story - a current affairs show that aired 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm before it was shelved, making her arguably one of the best political reporters.

She joined SMG in December 2011 after her short stint as an anchor at Mediamax's K24. She hosted the Morning Express during her early days at the media house.

In July 2021, she was promoted to become the new Acting Editor of SMG after the company let go of Broadcast Content Editor and Head of Strategy Peter Opondo.

One of her notable milestones was moderating the 2022 Deputy Presidential debate between running mates; United Democratic Alliance's Rigathi Gachagua (Deputy President) and Azimio's Martha Karua, on July 19, 2022.

Two months later during a KTN News interview, Gachagua alleged that Sophia, alongside NTV's James Smart, had denied him the opportunity to address what the Kenya Kwanza government had planned for Kenyans before they were elected into power.

He also claimed that because of the two anchors focusing on his integrity issues, he alongside President William Ruto lost nearly 300,000 votes in the August 9, 2022, general elections.

"Sophia to start with, both of you were very unfair to me in the running mate debate because you never gave me an opportunity to tell the people of Kenya what we want to do for them. You took me to issues and took too much time, it's okay to talk about integrity but you took too much time.

"I can tell you, had you given me that opportunity, the 7.2 million votes we got, we'd have got 7.5 million," he said.

Many of the questions fielded to Gachagua during the debate revolved around integrity issues, and the DP maintained that he was clean despite losing Ksh200 million to the previous regime over suspicions of being proceeds of corruption.

Other memorable news events that Wanuna was at the heart of included coverage of the 2013 Westgate attack and the 2019 Dusit D2 complex attack, both in Nairobi.

"I remember some of the stories that I covered that really stick such as the Westgate and Dusit Attacks, being present at the moment to witness such incidents. You're gathering and delivering information despite the fact that a rescue operation is ongoing. 

"One of the most heartwrenching stories was when 40 police officers succumbed to a bandit attack. Covering that alongside Mohamed Ali (Nyali MP) where we walked for four hours since the terrain was so bad. The smell of demise literally as the bodies were picked up. That story remains etched in my memory," she previously noted. 

Sophia Wanuna with James Smart during the 2022 Deputy Presidential debate on July 19, 2022. /INSTAGRAM.SOPHIA WANUNA