Before rising to the respectable role she plays on Kenyan television today, Citizen TV journalist Yvonne Okwara had been through thick and thin.
In a report that aired on the Dennis Pritt-based station christened "Kenyans Use Skin Lightening Chemicals", the celebrated anchor revealed that while trying to break into the lucrative business, executives once dismissed her as being "too dark for TV."
Much to the disbelief of the news feature's presenter, the tough-talking anchor, who once dressed down Governors Mike Sonko and Hassan Joho, further disclosed that she had to work 10 times harder to get to where she is.
"I fought! And that’s what happened to me…you have to be something else. You have to be smarter. You have to be 10 times better," narrated Okwara.
She announced her tough stance to retain her skin after the feature had aired in which numerous people, both men and women, had been embroiled in the trade with some ruining their skins.
The subjects in the story narrated how, after being influenced by the likes of Vera Sidika, the habit became a disease and due to the lack of constant supply of the product in Nairobi, they were forced to use fake products.
Okwara has worked hard to rise through the ranks during her 12 years on the TV screens having worked in virtually all major leading TV stations in Kenya.
She worked at Nation Media where she started "NTV This Morning" before moving to KTN where she spent five years only to leave the Mombasa Road-based station for Citizen TV in April 2018.
Her on-screen passion, however, began while she was only eight years while still at KBC where she hosted a children's variety show.
