NTV anchor Ken Mijungu, strongly defended his friend and colleague Dennis Okari, against what he described as the painting of the latter by his ex-wife and K24 TV anchor, Betty Kyallo, as an irresponsible father.
On Monday, December 30, Kyallo took to social media to give gratitude to God and doctors for saving her 4-year-old daughter Ivanna (sired with Okari in 2015), from a rare auto-immune disease known as acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM).
"As a mother, this was my lowest time. I was crushed every day seeing my daughter wasting away and couldn't do anything. I was depressed, cried silently sometimes hoping God would see my tears. I always feared to go to the ward or ICU because I wasn't sure what function she would lose the next day or hour," Kyalo stated.
In her post, she did not mention Okari's efforts to help their daughter, a move that irked Mijungu who saw the omission as deliberate and went on to give what would be interpreted to be Okari's side of the story.
"Yesterday I went to sleep with a heavy heart. I read a post by my colleague Betty. While she has the right to post anything about Ivanna and her challenges this year and thank God for it, she inevitably and deliberately exposed my best friend Dennis as an irresponsible father.
"From the responses, you guys have bashed Okari for no reason and I know Kyallo will not correct it so I will. Betty be honest, Okari and even Naomi (Okari's current wife) were there for Ivanna from the day we learnt of her illness and were by her side day and night," Mijungu defended via a Facebook post.
According to Mijungu, Ivanna's ordeal affected Okari at work, as he spent a lot of time focusing on his daughter's illness. The anchor further claimed that at one point, Kyallo blocked him (Mijungu) from seeing Ivanna at the hospital.
"For every single day that followed from that day on Okari was at the hospital day and night with his daughter. We raised funds to offset a Ksh7 million + bill. Okari only came to work when he could and our boss understood for all those months. You don’t need to thank Okari and Ivanna’s grandparents who visited and prayed with her but at least be honest about it.
"To deliberately paint him as irresponsible is immoral my friend. You don’t have to correct the impression you have created because the Somali guy is by your side but at-least be honest. We were friends before and one day we shall be friends again," Mijungu urged.
Kyallo narrated how her daughter made steady progress and thanked her friends, doctors, family members, work colleagues and her partner for being by her side.
