Top TV stations hit by fresh key staff exits

Top TV stations continued to bleed talent this week with KTN, NTV and K24 losing key journalists.

NTV was the hardest hit after prime time new anchor Trevor Ombija headed for the twin towers’ exit door on Monday. Our sources at Nation Centre indicate he is set to join rival station, Citizen TV, which appears not to have fully quenched its thirst to top talent.

KTN lost popular sports anchor Abduller Ahmed while K24’s promising business reporter and producer Brenda Kerubo has also called it quits.

A graduate of the University of Nairobi’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Ombija joined Nation Media Group in August 2013 as a new presenter on Easy FM, later renamed Nation FM.  He joined NTV as a senior anchor/reporter and associate producer and was one of its most popular news anchors.

Previously, he had worked as an assignment desk editor at CCTV Africa. Ahmed announced his departure to fans in a Facebook post on Monday.

“Kawaida mtoto huanza kutambaa Kisha akasimama na kutembea Dede, anaposhika Kasi huachiliwa ajipimie mwendo, kwa kipindi Cha Miaka mitatu nimepitia hatua zote hizi kwenye runinga ya KTN, umewadia wakati wa kupaa kwa mbawa zangu, Kwanza natoa shukrani za dhati kwa mashabiki wote, pili kwa Shirika la Standard na kikosi kizima Cha KTN, tatu kwa kitengo Cha KTN michezo kikiongozwa na Hassan Jumaa na mwisho kabisa kwa mentor wangu wa nguvu Ali Ole Manzu,” he posted on Facebook.

Ahmed, a graduate of the Kenya Institute of Mass Communications where he served as Head of Sports, entered the media as an intern at Citizen TV from January 2012 to April 2012 where he used to report for Nipashe, the prime time Swahili news bulletin.

He also did football analysis on KBC Channel 1 his highlight being the WORLD CUP 2014 which was held in Brazil and did live analysis of Kenya vs Lesotho from Nyayo National Stadium on August 3, 2014. He also did analysis of the AFCON 2015 and the Kenyan Premier League.

He joined the Standard Group-owned KTN three years ago after starring in the The Presenter reality show. Sources indicated he is joining Switch TV, the newly-launched Kenya Red Cross youth TV station.

On the other hand, Kerubo joined Mediamax Network Ltd in October 2016 having previously worked as a business writer at CCTV Africa for about five years.

She holds a Higher Diploma in Business Management from the Kenya Institute of Management and a Citi Excellence in Financial Journalism  from Aga Khan University’s Graduate School of Media and Communications.

Kerubo also undertook Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa Executive Training in Financial Journalism at the Strathmore Business School.

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It is not clear where she is headed to but sources indicated she has already left K24, where she had begun to cement her place as a corporate world journalist.