Waihiga Mwaura Quits Citizen TV, Reveals Next Move
Mwaura revealed that he would be joining the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
Marvin Chege 
Citizen TV prime-time news anchor Waihiga Mwaura will leave the station under the Royal Media Services (RMS) after 14 years.
Taking to his Twitter account on Tuesday, May 2, Mwaura revealed that he would be joining the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
"After 14 amazing years at Royal Media Services (Citizen TV), my time here has ended. My next stop is BBC News (Africa) specifically Focus on Africa.
"I'll share more details soon, but in the meantime, see you on my last episode of Newsnight at 9 pm on Citizen TV," he wrote.
Citizen TV news anchor Waihiga Mwaura poses for a photo inside the station on April 24, 2023. /WAIHIGA MWAURA
On joining BBC, Mwaura expressed his delight at joining the British state broadcaster with a specific focus on telling African stories.
“I am very pleased to be joining the BBC at a time when Focus on Africa will be anchored from the African continent for the first time. I believe 'bringing the show home’ will magnify the show’s impact by drawing in new audiences and helping our global viewers better understand this diverse continent,” Waihiga stated.
Viral Tea understands that Tuesday, May 2 will be his last day at the station as he will join BBC the following day (Wednesday, May 3), which has offices in Nairobi.
"I am delighted to let you know that Waihiga Mwaura will be the new presenter of Focus on Africa TV. Waihiga is a respected, award-winning, and talented Kenyan journalist with engaging storytelling and presentation skills.
"Some of you may have encountered him in London before, as he was the 2018 winner of the BBC News Komla award. He joins the programme at a crucial juncture, as we seek to reach younger audiences, and tell more original and impactful stories," an internal communication by Alice Muthengi, BBC World Service's News and Current Affairs editor, read.
Other than news anchoring, Waihiga worked as a features editor and special assignments editor. He worked as a sales agent at a local company from June 2006 to July 2007 and thereafter underwent a one-year training program at CFC Bank Upper Hill Branch, Nairobi two months thereafter.
In September 2009, he joined RMS as a sports anchor for seven years and clinched the CNN Multichoice Award in 2012 for a creative piece on Maasai morans who took up cricket in the fight against Female Genital Mutilation & the spread of HIV/AIDS.
In 2017, he was elevated to the role of news anchor where he served before his recent exit. In his capacity, he developed Citizen Extra, the daily 3-hour news & current affairs show that ended up going from a station ‘filler’ to a must-watch program with all the latest updates both locally & internationally.
He hosted the Friday Night show as well as the Daybreak show and had recently hosted News Night, a leading political talk show that saw him interview political figures shaping the country.
Waihiga became the first male winner of the 2018 BBC Komla Dumor Award, which would be won two years later by her female counterpart Victoria Rubadiri.
On Tuesday, May 4, 2021, he won the Investigative Reporting Award at the Annual Journalism Excellence Awards (AJEA) 2021 following his feature on Maasai Mara University in Narok, dubbed the Mara Heist, which aired in 2019 and uncovered corruption on a grand scale at the university.
Waihiga had served as the Special Projects Editor at the station following the exit of Asha Mwilu, who had previously held the role. Mwilu left to start her own media firm dubbed Debunk Media in 2020.
On January 8, 2022, he was promoted to the Managing Editor for Multimedia at the station. On July 11, 2022, he moderated the 2022 Nairobi gubernatorial debates which featured Nairobi governor, Johnson Sakaja and former candidate Polycarp Igathe.
