Citizen TV anchor Joey Muthengi has resigned following a row with the Maalim Juma Road based media station’s management over her appearances on Betin adverts, a move which drew the fury of Royal Media Services (RMS) owner S.K Macharia who also owns a betting company, Shabiki.
Muthengi tendered her resignation on Wednesday morning at a time when she was set to face disciplinary action over the “conflict of interest”.
Royalmedia Services (RMS) does not run other betting companies adverts while editors are also not allowed to publish stories on any betting company other than Shabiki regardless of their editorial significance.
It appears Muthengi has borne the brunt for promoting the Betin brand alongside Kenyan footballer and former Inter Milan midfielder MacDonald Mariga.
Prime time news anchor and talk show host Jeff Koinange also featured in a Tusker Malt advert released in August 2015 but the station had no qualms bringing him on board in 2017 which confirms beyond reasonable doubt that Muthengi became the villain after she became a Betin ambassador.
The Daybreak, 10 over 10 and lunch time news presenter reportedly pocketed Ksh8 million for featuring on the adverts which were shot in Italy earlier in the year.
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Muthengi was poached from Capital FM where she was the host of Hits not Homework, a youth entertainment show.
She also becomes the second presenter to quit Day Break after Fred Indimuli left for K24 on October 2.
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Muthengi’s exit also adds to the long list of journalists who have quit Royal Media Services (RMS) in the recent past for various reasons including Sylvia Chebet and Mercy Kandie who left for BBC in July, Wilkister Nyabwa who left for CGTN in September, Mumbi Warui and Nixon Ngang’a who left for the Presidential Deliverly Unit (PDU) in September and Ann Kiguta who left for K24 in October.
