Veteran Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) news anchor, Khamisi Themor, passed away after undergoing surgery at a hospital in Nairobi.
Themor died on Thursday evening, September 29, a day after he was admitted to the facility.
Reports indicated that the Swahili news anchor, who had complained of stomach pains, was rushed to the hospital where doctors preferred to perform surgery on him.
The veteran journalist passed on at the age of 72 years.
KBC announced his demise in a tribute shared on its social media pages.
Journalists followed with eulogies, mourning Themor as a rare gem in the media industry.
"The first radio voice I remember on VoK as a 4-year-old is that of Khamisi Themor. He gave us the news each day as VoK turned to KBC that year. He is not just a pioneer of this industry but a great media scholar. May he rest well," Oliver Mathege, NTV Multimedia editor eulogised.
On his part, Dagoretti South Member of Parliament, John Kiarie, stated that the journalist was a model he tried to emulate in his kits during his time at Redykylukass.
"Kenyan legend. One of the last in a generation of classical broadcasters from a golden era. Go well Khamisi," he stated.
"This man Khamisi Themor was the standard of how Swahili news was read on TV and on the radio. Kiarie John and the Redykylukass crew immortalized him with the "Wakati Huo Huo" link on the news on VOK/KBC. He was the face and voice of news on Radio Taifa," Daniel Wahome echoed.
Themor started his career at the Voice of Kenya (VOK) before it was branded as the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC).
He is famed for his lyrical introduction to news 'Hii ni Mukhtasari wa habari ukisomewa na Khamisi Themor, na kwanza ni mukhtasari," he would say.
