Waihiga Mwaura leaves Citizen TV for BBC

By Peter Ochieng

Waihiga Mwaura is making his way out of Citizen TV.

The Newsnight show host is set to join British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) after 14 years at Citizen TV.

“After 14 amazing years at Royal Media Services (Citizen TV), my time here has ended. My next stop is BBC News (BBC Africa), specifically Focus of Africa,” said the news anchor in a short statement on Twitter.

"I'll share more details soon, but in the meantime see you on my last episode of Newsnight at 9pm on Citizen TV.”

He joined Citizen TV in2009 as a sports news anchor.

His story on Maasai Cricket Warriors won him the CNN Multi-choice award in 2012.

In 2018, he scooped the prestigious BBC News Komla Dumor Award, earning him a stint at the BBC studios in London, United Kingdom.

His new role has been confirmed by BBC’s Alice Muthengi.

“I am delighted to let you know that Waihiga Mwaura wil 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,” she said.

Muthengi said Mwaura is walking into a familiar territory.

“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 program at a crucial juncture, as we seek to reach younger audiences and tell more original and impactful stories.”

Royal Media Services and in particular Citizen TV has lost some of the best journalists in the industry, in the recent past.

They include Joe Ageyo, Sam Ogina and Francis Gachuri.

Ageyo joined Nation Media Group, while Ogina and Gachuri left for posts in the Kenya Kwanza administration.