Njambi Koikai remembers her news anchoring days at KBC TV
Media personality Njambi Koikai has shared some snippets of her time as a news anchor at the Kenya Broadcasting Cooperation (KBC) many years ago.
In a post on her Facebook page, Njambi also revealed how her family was happy to see her on TV and how she multi-tasked on both TV and radio.
FIRST ASSIGNMENT
“Over a decade ago, I joined KBC or Broadcasting House (BH) as we members call it. I joined as an intern from Daystar University to the Reporter’s Desk. There was a major strike at the City Council of Nairobi and I was sent to cover it as my first assignment. I failed terribly and my story never went on air. That crushed me. I decided TV was not my thing and I should move to intern on radio and that’s how I landed at the now-defunct Metro FM,” Njambi said.
“My mom and grandmother were not very happy with that decision. Their dream was to see me anchor the news. So one day, I was walking around the corridors and overheard someone say there will be screen tests for news anchors. I quickly went to the studios, got the info, and went for the screen test. That’s when I met Monica Kiragu who picked me to become a prime time news anchor and grew to senior news anchor. Monica believed in me even more than I did,” she recalled.
“I doubled my radio and TV shifts. I’d have a radio show from 8pm-1am, break at 9pm and leave the music running, read the news on TV and go back to the radio studio. My sister, mom, and grandmother loved it. They loved Njambi doing the news. My grandma died a happy woman. She bought me all the suits I wore on TV,” she reminisced.
TREATMENT ABROAD
Njambi says she remains eternally grateful to Monica Kiragu.
At this point, I’d still call Monica and inform her I was unwell. None of us knew I had Endometriosis. Monica never questioned me. She understood and was empathetic. She also challenged me a lot by starting a different news show on Sunday nights. I’m forever grateful to Monica,” she added.
Njambi also offered some advice for upcoming journalists.
“To all the upcoming journalists and news anchors, a lot has changed within our media space. My experience in media is to be as authentic and as real as you can be,” she said.
Njambi, who is also a renown reggae emcee, is currently on a break after returning to Kenya mid last year from the USA where he underwent treatment for endometriosis for over a year.