Taita Taveta Governor Granton Samboja became the first member of the fourth estate to be elected as a governor, after clinching the seat in the 2017 General Election.
According to a source who had previously worked with Samboja, the governor started his journalism career immediately after finishing his media studies at the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC) when he joined Royal Media Services.
During his stint at RMS, he was a critical leader who helped establish Radio Citizen and place it in a favourable competitive edge.
Samboja later left RMS and joined the league of media entrepreneurs when he started his own radio station- Milele FM.
In September 2012, Samboja was approached by Mediamax Network Limited which offered him a deal he couldn't refuse, where he would later be appointed as Chief Operating Officer in 2013 replacing Paul Wanyaga.
During his time at Mediamax, Samboja is remembered for bringing life to the stations under the media house's umbrella, where he embarked on a campaign to place the stations in a position to compete effectively with rival stations.
Among the top journalists poached from Royal Media Services by Mediamax include Belinda Obura, Tom Mboya, Frank Macharia, Janet Chapia, Job Mwaura, and Andas Ihachi.
Others were Duncan Khaemba, Ann Ngugi, Purity Mwambia, Rashid Ronald, Chris Thairu and Zawadi Mudibo.
Samboja would later drop his top media management position to join politics in 2017, when he announced his interest for the Taita Taveta gubernatorial position, vying on a Jubilee Party ticket in an area largely dominated by the ODM Party.
However, Samboja would later join Wiper Party after Coast politician and former MP Dan Mwanzo beat him to get the ruling party's ticket.
His main opponents included incumbent John Mruttu, who was defending his seat as an independent candidate after losing in the Orange Democratic Movement primaries, as well as ODM’s Thomas Mwadeghu.
Samboja won after garnering 39,311 votes which translated to 36 per cent of the votes cast, with the incumbent, John Mruttu, coming in second with 23,399 votes.
ODM’s candidate Thomas Mwadeghu came in third.
