Captain Otoyo shares first salary at Citizen TV
Acclaimed comedian Kazungu Mutano, also known as Captain Otoyo, has disclosed the details of his first salary while working at Royal Media’s Citizen TV during an interview with a local media house.
During the show, themed “Till Money Do Us Part,” he shared that his allowance exceeded his actual salary.
Captain Otoyo explained that he earned Sh8,000 monthly, with an additional Sh10,000 as an allowance. “My real salary was Sh8,000 at Citizen, but my allowance was Sh10,000.”
Before joining the popular Kenyan show “Papa Shirandula,” Otoyo worked on another program called “Shika Pata Potea.”
The comedian reminisced about the early days at Citizen TV, where he hutsled before influential news presenters like Julie Gichuru and Swaleh Mdoe transformed it into today’s popular channel.
He mentioned that the station used to air news at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. to avoid competing with other channels.
“Citizen TV used to air their news at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. instead of the normal 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Citizens did not believe in themselves then, and they did this just to avoid competition from the other channels,” Otoyo remarked.
He recalled the unique stories the station covered in its early days, including reports about people biting dogs and camera crews chasing chiefs and thieves, and how these stories eventually led to a shift in personnel. The original workers were replaced by the vibrant and dynamic presenters seen today.
People were biting dogs, camera people were chasing chiefs and thieves, and suddenly, Citizen got everything they were looking for, and the workers at the time were replaced by the buoyant and energetic presenters we have now.”
As for his aspirations for the year, Captain Otoyo expressed his desire to continue expanding his career and hopes to see the young talents he has been mentoring secure TV shows for increased exposure.
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