Once upon a time, Citizen TV founder Samuel Kamau Macharia, popularly known as SK Macharia, was an average Kenyan tycoon without an innate need to rule the airwaves.
In fact, according to A Profile of Kenyan Entrepreneurs, a book chronicling the pursuits of the country's high-ranking entrepreneurs, the tycoon was embroiled in politics and threw his weight behind Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga's father who headed the opposition.
At the time, Macharia campaigned for Jaramaogi, the man who gave him his first job after returning from his studies in the US.
The Murang'a tycoon, then mainly involved in the manufacturing industry, funded Jaramogi's political activities including paying for his advertisements on TV. Only KBC, a government broadcaster that favoured the state, and KTN operated legal broadcast licenses.
However, KBC which was notoriously biased towards Moi, never aired the ads Macharia paid to promote his friend. In the 1992 General Election, Jaramogi lost in what SK felt was an imbalanced campaign aided by unfair media coverage.
"SK Macharia's presidential candidate was Jaramogi Oginga Odinga. In effect, he used to fund his campaigns, especially by paying for advertisements in KBC. The adverts were never aired.
"When Oginga Odinga lost the election, SK Macharia went into shock; he did not believe that he would lose. When he got over the shock, he thought that most likely Odinga lost because KBC refused to cover him in the same way they were covering Moi. There and then, he decided that he would have his own TV and radio stations," read the book in part.
The declaration then set in motion a long and winded attempt to set up his own broadcasting wavelength at a time the country was largely under an authoritarian rule.
Since he did not know the procedure to secure a license, he called KBC CEO who redirected him to the office of the President.
The letter he wrote to the President was redirected to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting which the tycoon reportedly did not know existed.
The matter headed to court after he was denied the license and tried to fight for approval to conduct business in an industry he knew so little about. But he was persistent.
After the legal battle, Macharia's quest to set up the station was granted and its official launch was in 1999, marking the beginning of the rise of independent broadcasters and catapulting his friendship with the country's opposition.
Soon after, the former Prime Minister and SK Macharia formed a formidable political bond that, in just three months leading to the August 9 General Election, has caused some disquiet.
In the 1992 General Election, then Treasurer of the YK92 William Ruto - was among those who benefited from the decision not to air pro-Jaramogi adverts that Macharia had paid.
31 years later, SK now enjoys the media dominance that KBC enjoyed in the early 1990s and is also being accused of providing unfair coverage to his preferred candidate.
The deputy president has accused the media house of covering his campaign unfairly while according to his opponent generous and conducive coverage.
Macharia, however, maintains that his businesses are independent of political activities and provide fair coverage for both camps.
"For many years I have taken a very courageous, honest and public step of making a very clear separation between myself SK Macharia as a responsible citizen and my businesses that include broadcast media companies.
"My political views and preferences are therefore completely independent of my businesses which are managed by impartial and highly competent professionals," the media mogul stated early this year.
In rallies, however, the tycoon has been heard promising to use all his resources in campaigning for the former Prime Minister.
"I know what happens across this country because my stations are the ears on the ground. The ground, at the moment, has been poisoned and we need to work hard to change the tide and I will do all I can to help," SK noted last year while hosting Raila's allies at his Ndakaine home.
