Celebrated Citizen TV anchor, Jeff Koinange, has had several rough times in his life, despite the smiles he wears, the synergy and charisma he has.
In his book, Through My African Eyes, the award-winning journalist narrated how at one point, while in South Africa, he was robbed at gunpoint.
During that moment, his wife, Shaila Koinange, was four months pregnant with their son, Jamal Mbiyu Koinange.
“The first bit of bad luck happened five months earlier in February when I landed back in Johannesburg after an overnight ten-hour flight from London. As customary, Shaila picked me up from the airport and I had some television equipment that I wanted to drop off at the office before heading home.
“It was a Saturday and traffic was light, a good sign, I thought because this meant I would quickly go into the office, deposit the equipment and head straight home for some much-needed rest,” Jeff wrote.
However, the day turned sour as he and his wife were ambushed by armed robbers as they turned into the street and parked the car in front of the building housing the Bureau.
“Suddenly from the rear-view, I noticed a car had pulled up right behind blocking me in. I did not think much of it and told Shaila to stay in the car while I ran inside. As I opened the drivers-side door, I felt something cold and metallic on my temple.
"I knew this sensation from before in war-torn countries where child soldiers enjoyed intimidating foreign journalists by pointing guns to their heads. This time it was happening in ‘civilized’ Johannesburg and in broad daylight,” Jeff recalled.
The robbers threatened Jeff to comply with their demands.
“This is an armed robbery. Give us everything you’ve got and no one will be hurt,” a young man who looked like he was barely in his early twenties ordered, as narrated by the journalist.
Jeff noticed that another young man had made his way to Shaila’s side of the car and had a gun pointed at her belly. The anchor was enraged as his wife was pregnant and quite fragile.
Shaila tried to scream but the gunman with the cold steel cocked the gun to her head, told her not to even dare utter a sound. Three other youth in their twenties came out of the car and started unloading all the luggage and ‘transferring’ it to their car.
“My pockets were turned inside out everything was taken - passport, wallet, cell phones, office keys, house keys, everything they could take. Shaila’s cell phone was also taken, as well as her handbag, with all her documents,” Jeff divulged.
