Fredrick Muitiriri is slowly becoming a household name in Kenya's media industry. The broadcast journalist anchors Swahili news on NTV. But unknown to many, the newsman was once a police officer.
The news anchor revealed that his career was never to be straightforward, considering the challenges he had faced, some of which were self-inflicted.
"Throughout high school, I never studied at all. I would be out there attending all types of gigs; drama festivals, football competitions, scouts events," Muitiriri shared.
The Swahili anchor added that he did not qualify to study journalism after scoring a C - (minus) in his KCSE exam. He opted to join the police force instead.
"The closest I ever got to go to a college was in 2004. Mombasa Polytechnic asked me to pay Ksh49,000 for modules 1 and 2 for broadcast journalism- money that my mom didn't have," he indicated.
However, he kept his dreams for journalism alive while serving in the police service by saving for school.
Muitiriri started saving Ksh3,000 monthly to pay for his school fee at the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC), domiciled in Nairobi's South C.
Despite saving enough to pay for his school fees, Muitiriri had to face another hurdle as his seniors in the force reportedly refused to approve his transfer request from Isiolo to Nairobi to enable him to continue with his studies.
According to Muitiriri, his bosses advised him against studying for a course that was unrelated to police work.
At that point, he decided to quit his job as a police officer and focus on studying to realize his childhood dream.
After leaving KIMC, Muitiriri worked with several other media stations before joining NTV in July 2022.
Among the media houses the eloquent journalist has worked with include TV47, Switch TV, Inooro TV, Radio Maisha and Hero Radio located in Nakuru.
While Muitiriri is happy to have finally lived his dream, "a man must keep aiming higher" he told Kenyans.co.ke about his ambition.
"Anyone looking to join the media industry must know that the media landscape in Kenya has changed a lot and they should start thinking about the value that they bring as opposed to what they are going to get paid," Muitiriri stated in an interview with Kenyans.co.ke.
Muitiriri who also went to Bible School says he also works under the CITAM High School Ministry where he preaches in high schools around the country once or twice a month.
