Media practitioners are among the experts rewarded over the years for their service to the nation, from their watchdog to agenda-setting and gatekeeping roles.
They are often given different clusters of the state commendations depending on how impactful their storytelling is to the country's cohesion.
Here are the journalists recognised for their excellence, thereafter, dining with the President and other state officials in state banquets.
All of them were awarded by former President Uhuru Kenyatta during his ten-year reign from April 2013 to September 2022.
Chemutai Goin
She was awarded the Uzalendo Award on June 1, 2020, for disseminating correct information about the Covid-19 pandemic.
Further, she enlightened her audience on ways to prevent contracting the Covid-19 virus. She is currently at Citizen TV.
Joan Pereruan
She was awarded the Head of State Commendation (HSC) on December 12, 2021.
The award was for her excellent work as a photojournalist. She works at Nation Media Group (NMG).
Alex Chamwada
He was awarded the Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear (MBS) on December 12, 2019, for his illustrious career in the media industry.
He runs a private media company called Chams Media which is famous for producing the show Daring Abroad.
Jeff Kuria
He was awarded the Uzalendo Award on June 1, 2020, for his work sharing information through his media platform during the Covid-19 pandemic.
He is currently based at Inooro which is under RMS and also runs Jeff Kuria TV on Youtube.
Roselyne Obala
She was HSC (civilian division) on December 12, 2019. She is currently a board member of the Media Council of Kenya.
She has years of experience as a journalist covering political events and is also current affairs and devolution expert.
Mike Okinyi
He was awarded HSC (civilian division) on December 12, 2019.
He is currently a sports anchor on Citizen TV.
Trevor Ombija
He was awarded HSC (civilian division) on December 12, 2020, for his close to a decade career in journalism.
He is currently a news anchor at Citizen TV and Ramogi TV, both of RMS.
Jamila Mohamed
She was awarded HSC (civilian division) on December 12, 2019, for her distinguished career in journalism.
She has more than a decade of experience in news anchoring and is known for her eloquent Swahili. She is currently a managing editor at Citizen TV.
Zipporah Muthui
She was awarded HSC (civilian division) on December 12, 2019. She is a senior news producer at KBC.
Some of the journalists left the media industry and are now in various government positions.
Hussein Mohammed
He was awarded the Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear (MBS) on December 12, 2019, for an exceptional career as a journalist.
On October 15, 2022, he was appointed to serve as the State House spokesperson. Previously, he was a news anchor at Citizen TV.
Jane Ngoiri
She was awarded HSC (civilian division) on December 12, 2020, for her exemplary career in the media industry as a news anchor.
On March 10, 2023, she was appointed as a member of the HIV and AIDS Tribunal. Previously, she was a news anchor at NTV.
The acronym of the award such as HCS and MBS is attached as a suffix at the end of their names.
