Award-winning Citizen TV anchor, Waihiga Mwaura, advised the youth how being faithful, trustworthy and upholding integrity makes one stand out, especially while seeking jobs, appointments or promotions.
Speaking to a congregation in Machakos University in late November 2021, Waihiga recalled how he declined to be coerced into paying a Ksh200 bribe for an internship position.
The prime time news anchor was one of 200 applicants who turned up for an interview at a facility prior to him joining the media. The group was directed to undergo a health test to determine their fitness level.
"We were to meet a few stipulated conditions. One of these was passing the health test. We were asked to do blood, stool and urine tests.
“It was too early in the morning, you have not eaten breakfast nor drank anything at all. The latrines were set in a way to discourage you from producing the samples,” Waihiga narrated.
This roadblock, he alluded, was intentionally set to create a diversion and necessitate the applicants to be coerced into outrageous demands set by the officials.
One doctor appeared abruptly and asked each of the 200 applicants to pay him a Ksh200 bribe to pass the fitness exams without undergoing the medical tests.
All the 200 job seekers were guaranteed the jobs and promised to start on the following Monday.
“A mischievous guy, I would say, appointed himself the team leader and started collecting Ksh200 from each of us. When he approached me, I was cautious of handing over the money.
“I had Ksh400 in my pocket. That was enough to cover the bribe and my fare back home. But my intuition and conscience were against the idea. I thought about going back home without a job,” Waihiga recalled how he was at crossroads. His mind and heart were in a dilemma, adding that this was among the tough challenges youths face every day while seeking jobs and good grades at school.
A voice in his head told him that he would offer bribes throughout his life if he fell prey to the conniving doctor’s request. A hungry youthful Waihiga Mwaura declined to offer the bribe, walked out to a nearby hotel to force his body to produce the samples.
He picked the sampler containers from the doctor and braced himself to face the outcome of his decision. Waihiga boarded a matatu to Nairobi CBD where he took breakfast and patiently waited for his body system to respond.
Meanwhile, he was thinking about his future while staring at the only suit he had in his life back then. “Men go through a lot to succeed. I used to change the shirt and tie only, but I was so confident in myself,” he stated during the interlude.
Back at the hospital where they were to undergo the tests, Waihiga learnt that all the other applicants ‘tests’ were approved and they were ready to start their internship.
"I have never forgotten this, 15 years ago. I told him, 'doctor, these are my medical samples'. And he laughed. I found out that he had vowed not to give a job to ‘the fool’ who declined to offer a bribe.
“But he was surprised that out of 200 applicants, only one did not give in to the demands. Only one stood for God. He signed and approved my documents. I got that job without compromising my integrity.
“How did God reward me? I trusted him to lead me into the media. The next week on Monday, I was called by NTV to report to work. God opened more ways and led me to Citizen TV a few years later,” Waihiga recalled.
He advised the youth to remain steadfast.
“God is watching all of us. For those who stand for him during tribulations, he will stand with them later on. When you work for him, you may be alone, but you and God are an army."
