For mosts journalists, landing the big scoops and holding powerful individuals to account are among the reasons why they go the extra mile in informing the country on what is happening.
Over the years, a number of journalists have managed to land one on one interviews with President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga - the top political personalities in the country.
The former Citizen TV anchor has had a number of high profile interviews under his belt. in 2013, he got to sit down with President Uhuru Kenyatta who was the then Deputy Prime Minister.
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This was just before the elections where Uhuru was vying for the presidency seat which he expressed confidence of clinching in the first round of voting.
He further challenged his rivals in the CORD Alliance to table any evidence they ha of large pieces of land that they claimed he owned.
The seasoned anchor has also interviewed ODM leader Raila Odinga twice, once in 2016 when he was the leader of the CORD Coalition and right before the 2017 elections. Here, Raila broke down the opposition's scorecard.
In October 2017, Hussein landed an exclusive interview Raila Odinga which was the first of the ODM leader since the highly contested General Election on August 8, 2017. In the discussion, Raila maintained that he had won the election which was highly contested up to the Supreme Court.
The current AU Special Envoy was impressed by Hussein's journalistic skills that during his exit from Citizen TV, the former Prime Minister was among those who shared his farewell to the anchor.
"Hussein is one of the best interviewers Citizen TV has ever had. He struck me as someone who did a lot of background research before conducting an interview," he stated in 2019.
Raila further revealed that the anchor persisted on certain matters which would be irritating at some point.
Seasoned TV anchor Yvonne Okwara is among the most revered news presenters in the country. She has managed to tackle major issues with high profile personalities in the country.
In 2013, Okwara got to discuss the case at the International Criminal Court (ICC) with President Kenyatta. Uhuru at the time acknowledged that the ICC indictment remained a challenge in his public life.
He, however, stated that he would cooperate with the Hague-based court until in his words " he proves his innocence."
Uhuru further outlined the legacy he would like to leave behind when his term as president comes to an end as well as the reason why the laptop project was an important milestone in the country.
Okwara has had two opportunities to interview Raila. The first sitdown came came in 2014 when she question him over the state of the ODM party due to wrangles in the outfit and in 2017 where Raila gave his first-ever television interview after the Supreme Court declared a repeat presidential election on September 12, 2017.
In the interview, he maintained that he would not take part in the no elections unless certain irreducible minimums were met.
3. KTN Senior Reporter Sophia Wanuna
In 2015, President Uhuru Kenyatta sat down with KTN's Sophia Wanuna to shed light on his UN special summit address. He reiterated his commitment to equality as well as outlined his government's commitment to developing the country in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In the same year, Wanuna landed a one-on-one interview with Raila Odinga where her clip asking the ODM leader for a selfie went viral. In arguably one of the most intimate interviews Raila has given, viewers were given a glimpse of his daily routine including his fitness regime and interaction with the family.
4. KTN's Ali Manzu
In 2019, during tour of Turkana County for a cultural festival, Ali Manzu got Raila to elucidate on his role as AU representative for Africa infrastructure among other issues including the conflict in the Turkana region bordering Kenya, Punguza Mzigo and the BBI initiative.
As for his interview with President Uhuru, Ali Manzu was part of a five-journalists panel consisting of Hussein Mohammed (Citizen TV), Edward Kabasu (KBC), Mark Masai (NTV), Anders Ihachi (K24TV).
CGTN's Beatrice Marshall has had the opportunity to engage the two leaders on a number of issues.
While working for KTN in 2011, Marshall got to question Raila who was then Prime Minister on the state of the economy. Raila addresses a number of issues including why the government was unable to protect the public from rising costs of basic commodities.
During the tumultuous 2017 period, Marshall had an interview with Uhuru on his plans to unite the country following a divisive election period.
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Former Citizen Anchor Julie Gichuru has also had the opportunity to interview both leaders, President Uhuru and Raila Odinga in 2013.
