CGTN journalist, Enock Sikolia, has opened up on the role of Cabinet Secretary Farida Karoney in his media career and how she helped him land his first job.
Sikolia explained that he studied laboratory science at Kenyatta University and after graduation in 2008, he realized that he did not want to pursue that as a career and decided to change gear.
The former Citizen TV journalist said that he started looking for a job in media but he was not successful for four years. At this point, Sikolia was looking for an internship that would give him the experience he needed.
After failing to secure a job in media, Sikolia resolved to go back to school and he was advised to join a college. After two months of study, however, he realised that he would not gain much from the school.
"When I realized that I could not get a job in media because of my papers, I decided to go back to school and I joined a local college in Nairobi where I studied for two months, but I realized that I had been misled," Sikolia recalled.
"I was lied to because I was looking for a postgraduate diploma in journalism and I was told they offered it, but when I joined the college and studied for a few months, I realized that I had been duped and I decided to leave," he added.
In 2012, Sikolia met former Citizen TV Editor, Ali Mtenzi, and told him that he was interested in pursuing a career in media although he had not studied journalism.
The CGTN journalist stated that Mtenzi took his papers and audio demo and promised that he would deliver them to Royal Media Services. Sikolia recalled that he got a call from RMS and they offered him an internship.
During the interview process, Sikolia noted that his papers during the interview at Citizen TV were also a problem but he managed to convince them to give him the internship opportunity.
After finishing his internship, CS Karoney helped Sikolia get his first job at K24 TV and after four months he got a call from NTV and he joined the Kimathi Street-based media house where he worked for 6 years.
In June 2018 at the height of mass departure from a then seemingly embattled Nation Media, Sikolia also followed suit and ditched the Kimathi Street-based media house for the Dennis Pritt-based Citizen TV.
Sikolia, a revered political reporter, joined other well-established reporters at the SK Macharia-owned station after leaving NTV. In 2020, Sikolia joined China Global Television Network (CGTN) as a reporter for Africa Live.
