Former Citizen TV anchor Jacque Maribe opened up on, among other things her time at the Royal Media Services (RMS) station in an interview with media entrepreneur Carole Mandi.
Maribe was on the cover of the October issue of Mandi’s True Love Magazine, and addressed other topics including how her life had changed since being arrested and charged in a murder case along with her former fiance Joseph ‘Jowie’ Irungu.
In the interview released on Thursday, November 19, she disclosed previously unknown details of how she secured an interview with President Uhuru Kenyatta after his election for a first term in 2013, and the intrigues it caused in the newsroom.
The interview, which aired in 2014, was special as it was the first TV interview Uhuru had given after taking office.
As Maribe revealed, she received a phone call from President Uhuru Kenyatta himself asking to do the interview right before she was scheduled to proceed on maternity leave.
Maribe had worked alongside Uhuru and Deputy President William Ruto during campaigns for the Jubilee coalition.
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Drama began, however, when she told her bosses at the media house about the interview.
She was thanked for securing the interview but was informed that it would be conducted by a different, male journalist.
Maribe maintained that she stood her ground and was backed up by Uhuru, who told her that he would only do the interview with her.
“I got angry. I was like why? Is it because I’m a woman, is it because I’m heavy and you think I’m not up to the task?It actually brought a bit of tension
“Later I had to get back to the President and tell him unfortunately I’m not the one whose going to do it. He said then there’s no interview,” she recounted.
Eventually, the interview aired as a two-part interview segment, with Maribe engaging Uhuru at State House and former news anchor Hussein Mohammed later questioning him on various topics.
Mohammed left Citizen TV in October 2019, at a time when he was one of the highest rated anchors and interviewers in the country.
After leaving Citizen in the wake of the drama and media blitz that followed her arrest, Maribe made a media comeback in 2020 with a new online show.
Known as The Hot Seat, the show features one-on-one interviews with various high-profile figures in politics and governance.
Watch Maribe’s interview below:
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