The Contrasting Fortunes of Jacque Maribe and Waihiga Mwaura

When Citizen TV announced their star-studded line up during the Kenyan Media Transfer Window, one thing was conspicuous, two lunchtime presenters had been permanently elevated to the world of prime time news.

The two were Jacque Maribe and Waihiga Mwaura, who were allocated the Friday News prime time slot ostensibly to clip the wings of then KTN News hotshot Betty Kyalo who was fast becoming the darling of the Kenyan audience at the expense of other media stations.

Maribe and Waihiga took to their new roles with aplomb, their presentations were assured and their chemistry was telling. The gifted duo featured Maribe’s light touch while Waihiga tackled more serious issues.

Waihiga was additionally given a special assignment by Citizen TV editors called Below 30. The weekly feature explored the challenges of youth in business and first aired on August 3, 2018.

On September 26, Kenya woke up to the news that Waihiga had won the BBC Komla Dumor Award, one of the most prestigious in journalism. Kenyans raved over the victory of one of their own but they were not surprised. Waihiga had in 2012 won in the sports category of the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist of the Year and is also a 2015 Mohammed Amin Africa Award winner.

The duo’s fairytale would end there as on the same day that Waihiga won the BBC award, media reports revealed that detectives were looking for Maribe in their quest to unravel the Monica Kimani murder puzzle.

READ: JACQUE MARIBE TV CAREER HANGS IN THE BALANCE

Since then, Waihiga has travelled to BBC headquarters in Portland Place and Langham Place, London for three months training where he has gone about his business with top-notch professionalism. He has hosted a discussion on the Focus on Africa programme which will only add to his already impressive resume.

On the other hand, Maribe’s reputation has been beaten, battered and bruised in media reports while her former co-presenter continues to stake claim to being Africa’s top journalist.

In a period of one month, Maribe has been linked, arraigned, charged and released on bail in connection with the Monica Kimani murder case.

She is innocent until proven guilty but her public image has been dented with even the presiding judge in the case Justice James Wakiaga ordering the media to stop publishing Monica Kimani murder case stories not generated from court proceedings.

The judge’s concerns followed media reports on an affidavit sworn by Maribe which had been leaked to the media.

Her woes deepened when Justice James Wakiaga while granting her bail on October 30 barred her from presenting news until the case is determined.

Waihiga upon completing the three months is expected to come back and do a report in any African country as the final leg of his training.

SEE ALSO: HOW POLITICIANS HOLD KENYA’S MEDIA BY THE BALLS

By then, Maribe will still be staring at the possibility of eventually ending up in prison as her bail release means she is not out of the woods yet. The trial for which she is an accused will resume June 2019.

However one thing is clear, while the two started on the same footing, they are now worlds apart both professionally and socially.

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