Citizen TV co-anchors Jeff Koinange and Victoria Rubadiri lit up Lulu Hassan's timeline after she made them speak Kiswahili on camera ahead of their 9 p.m. English bulletin.
In the video which Hassan shared on her Instagram, the duo - presumably preparing for Sunday Live - was invited by the bubbly Swahili anchor and asked to update the audience on the coronavirus outbreak, but only in Kiswahili.
In the video, Rubadiri introduces herself and moments into her Kiswahili sojourn refers to 'many people' as 'watu mingi' instead of 'wengi' sending the whole studio into laughter.
"Habari yenu, naitwa Victoria Rubadiri. Leo tunazungumza juu ya hii mambo ya coronavirus, imeogopesha watu mingi sana (Hello everyone, my name is Victoria Rubadiri. Today we are discussing the coronavirus issue which has brought fear to many people)," introduced Rubadiri.
Later on, Hassan invites Koinange to join them and poses the same challenge to the boisterous JKLive host.
The two prime time anchors keep code-switching between Kiswahili and English at one point asking Hassan to translate the word 'infected' for them.
"Tonight!!!" starts Koinange in his signature accent before Hassan interjects and reminds him, "Kiswahili bwana (sir)"
"Leo tunaongea juu ya corona (Coronavirus). Ayaya corona imechapa watu wengi, karibu elfu tatu dunaniani na wengine karibu elfu themanini wako infected (Today we are discussing Coronavirus. The disease has affected so many people, nearly 3,000 have died while 80,000 infected.)," continued Koinange.
"Infected ni nini kwa Kiswahili? (What's infected in Swahili?)" Hassan questions clearly amused by the duo's unfamiliarity with the national language - a situation relatable to many Kenyans whose command for the Kiswahili language dwindles after formal schooling courtesy of factors such as Sheng, the preference for English over Swahili and the common acceptance of Swanglish.
After fumbling for a moment, Hassan comes to their aid with the translation to 'kuambukizwa.'
The two Sunday Live anchors are known for their onscreen chemistry, which as Hassan's video proved, also spills over to offscreen.
