Living the dream can mean different things to different people. To some, it's a life spent kicking back on a beach in Mombasa with an endless supply of drinks and food.
To others, it could be travelling all over the world, meeting new people, and experiencing different cultures. To others, it is a dream job in which you get paid to do the things you love.
From the newsroom to State House, some of Kenya’s media personalities have had the rare opportunity to work at the highest office in the land.
Sammy Lui is known to many as a presidential MC whose voice has reverberated across many stadiums and functions in the country graced by the president.
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His voice is soothing, oozes unparalleled command of English and easily recognisable. Having been one of Kenya’s pioneer journalists, Sammy’s career in media started in KBC before moving to KTN and then to the Office of the President as the Director of State Events.
His voice powered through the reign of President Daniel Moi, Mwai Kibaki and a bit of Uhuru Kenyatta’s regime.
Jubilee Secretary General Raphael Tuju has also enjoyed more than 10 years as a State House insider, first as an advisor to former President Kibaki and as Cabinet Secretary in Uhuru’s Cabinet.
Before his entry into politics, Tuju worked as an anchor at KTN. He was a producer and director of several documentaries, radio and TV commercials for international agencies, public sector institutions, and private-sector bodies.
“In my younger years, I worked as a television producer with several documentary films to my credit and earned the distinction of being the first TV Producer in Africa to win an International Emmy award for a TV production.
“I mainly addressed health and human development issues in my communication career with HIV/AIDS and gender empowerment being the main subject matter and in which I am credited with some of the major groundbreaking marks in Kenya,” he said during a past interview.
State House’s latest addition from the TV newsroom is Kanze Dena who serves as the spokesperson.
She formerly worked as a news anchor, specializing in current events, political interviews, and culture.
Kanze has worked for KBC and Citizen TV where she was known for her prowess in Swahili and even coined words such as heshitegi to mean hashtag.
Her deputy Munira Mohammed was also picked from the KTN newsroom to manage the presidential library.
Citizen TV and KTN are the leading sources of media talent at the office of the president having also poached Nixon Ng’ang’a who was Citizen TV managing editor to head the communication department at the President's Delivery Unit.
The PDU team operates from its headquarters at the Tourism Fund building and also includes Mumbi Warui (former Citizen TV business reporter) and Laban Cliff Onserio who was picked from the NTV business newsdesk.
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