Veteran TV news anchor Catherine Kasavuli is dead.
The Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) Managing Director Samuel Maina confirmed that Kasavuli died while receiving treatment on Thursday, December 29.
She passed on at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) aged 60 years after a long battle with cervical cancer.
"Kasavuli passed on yesterday night. Her death related to the cancer ailment that she's been bravely fighting in the recent past," Maina told the media.
In her last post on December 12, Kasavuli shared that she was visited by her nephew who had lost his mother to cancer, promising to fight the disease.
"Five years later it strikes again, but this time round, we are well prepared, courageous, optimistic, and thankful to every new day I get to hope courageously," she wrote.
A number of journalists including KTN's Mashirima Kapombe remembered her as a role model who held the hands of several media practitioners during their careers.
"Sad news to wake up to. She was an inspiration to many, including myself," Kapombe wrote.
Kasavuli first made public her illness on November 7, appealing for an urgent blood donation. Colleagues in the media industry responded to the clarion call from the KNH blood donation unit.
Well-wishers also raised funds to foot her medical bill.
As she underwent treatment, the media maestro gave regular updates on her treatment and thanked the public for their continued support.
Kasavuli, who wears the crown of Kenya's first female anchor had a stellar career spanning three decades. She began at KBC as a continuity announcer.
Her debut on TV was in 1985 before she was recruited to the team that idealized KTN, the first privately-owned TV station in early 1990s.
The veteran anchor also worked for Citizen TV before moving back to KBC when the station was relaunched in 2022.
