The News Makers

Julie Gichuru, the most adored beauty queen in Kenya television.

2014-04-02T16:30:00.000+03:00

She is arguably the most powerful woman on our Kenyan screens right now. She airs on Citizen T.V and turns up your screens every Sunday night for her already famous ‘Sunday Live’ Show which has lots of popular segments such as ‘Who Owns Kenya’ and ‘Road Hog’. She has won numerous awards worldwide and was once even placed in the ‘Top 60 Most Influential Women in the World’ list.

She is married to one Anthony Gichuru with whom they have 5 beautiful kids. Your guess is as good as mine, am talking about one Julie Gichuru!
Forgive my long boring talk, I just can’t help it when talking about such people. Anyway, here’s the bit you didn’t know about her. The bit you won’t be seeing on your screens when she presents.

EDUCATION

Her growing up story is not your everyday story.
Julie started off her education at St Christophers School in Nairobi and at the age of eight attended the Green Herald in Bangladesh where her father was posted for military training.
She then returned to Kenya and spent a term at Karen C school, before transferring to Loreto Convent Msongari in Standard Four.
In Form 2, she convinced her parents to let her make the shift from 8-4-4 to GCE, and joined Imani School (boarding) in Thika for Form 3 and 4.
After completing her high school, Julie Gichuru joined USIU, where she only stayed for 2 semesters. She transferred to the UK where she did a one year pre-University Course at Warwick University, before joining the University of Wales, Cardiff for her Law Degree…. Yes, she’s a lawyer.
Once complete she worked for a year to help finance her Masters degree and completed her Masters in Business Administration at the same University.
For a brief period Julie did her pupillage at Hamilton, Harrison & Matthews Advocates in Nairobi before pursuing a different career path in the media.

MEDIA

Julie is the current host of Citizen TV’s Sunday Live. She also hosts the Africa Leadership Dialogues.
For over 12 years, she has worked in print, broadcast and digital media. In 2000-2002 she ran a lifestyle magazine called Quest.
She then worked as a news presenter and hosted a talk show at Capital FM. She would then join NTV before settling at Citizen.
In 2008 she conceptualized and started hosting Sunday Live, and it became an instant hit and audience puller.
In 2009 Julie conceptualized and hosted Fist to Five for Change, which facilitated reconciliation and healing for victims and perpetrators of post election violence in Kenya.
She also moderated one of the presidential debates in 2013.

BUSINESS

Mimi.co.ke and her production company Arimus Media Ltd.

When not reading news, Julie has a few businesses to run. She is a director in several companies, among them her online fashion outlet

AWARDS & RECOGNITION
Martin Luther King Salute To Greatness
She is the first African woman to receive this award, for her advocacy

of non-violence following the 2007 election in Kenya.
Aspen Global Leadership Network
Order of Golden Warrior
Awarded by President Kibaki in 2011.
Top 20 Young Power Women in Africa
Julie has been recognized by Forbes Magazine as one of the top 20 Young Power Women in Africa.

Africa Leadership Initiative
Young Global Leader
Awarded in 2010 by the World Economic Forum.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Program
60 Most Influential African Women in The World
Ambassador - AMREF Stand Up for African Mothers campaign
Ambassador - UNICEF – Breastfeeding

IN HER OWN WORDS:

When I was a little girl I had plenty of fanciful notions and fantastic thoughts, colorful ideas and creative inclinations. I loved to dream and dream big. I saw the world with innocent eyes and I loved what I saw. But I would soon learn that you cannot always expect the best from people, and life isn’t just a bed of roses.

I am the child of a mixed marriage. My father’s family hailed from Kashmir, a beautiful region between India and Pakistan, China and Afghanistan. It features some of the world most picturesque scenes, from fast flowing valley rivers to snow capped mountains, but has been the subject of various border disputes and vicious wars. My mother’s family was from Kiambu. My grandfather was born in Kabete but had to relocate several times, in some instances forcibly. Those were difficult days. They finally settled down in Nairobi. How this Asian boy from Kashmir and African girl from Kiambu met and fell in love is a story for another day.

Growing up in this mixed home I assumed that race was a non-issue. I had a fascinating notion that humans changed colour every year – one year we were black and the next year we were white. So I was rather crestfallen when I realized I wasn’t changing colour as I was supposed to. When I asked my family about it they all had a really good laugh at my expense, and I was left with the upsetting realization that my fun world of colour changing was not to be… Ah well, no big deal… However I was soon going to learn my second hard lesson about colour – people can choose to hate you simply for the skin you are in.

We lived in Dagoretti, Nairobi, along Wanyee Road. After school I loved sneaking out of the house to buy Goody Goodys (toffee heaven) at the kiosk. My parents always warned me against it and insisted I should be accompanied to the shops, but I was a know-it-all, and I loved sneaking off on my own.
On this particular day it was mid afternoon and off I went up our little hill towards the main road. It was a steep 100m stretch to the top of the hill and the road was paved with tall trees and bushes. I was halfway up that stretch when I noticed a group of boys standing at the top. They turned and saw me and then started to shout, “Mzungu! Mzungu!”

I slowed my pace sensing hostility but did not want to seem cowardly so I kept walking, slowly. In a flash, one boy picked up a stone and threw it straight at me. It all happened so fast, the stone hit me square between the eyes. Head pounding and eyes brimming with tears of shock, pain and horror I noticed the other boys bending down to pick stones too. They wanted to stone me, because of my skin!
I ran towards the trees and made my way through the bushes, getting scratched and cut but aware that my struggle through the thick underbrush would get me to the back of my grandparents house. (The Asian boy who married the African girl bought a plot next to his father-in-law and built his home there, another story for another day).
I was worried that the boys might follow me, but this was my territory and at my grandparents I felt safe. I hid on their farm for a short while, I simply couldn’t let either of them see me (there would be hell to pay if they knew what happened). A little later I walked home, just across the road, when I was sure the boys at the top of top hill had gone.

I barely remember that evening… but initially I do recall that I tried to fib that I had fallen. My parents did not buy that story, the bruise was right between my eyes! Later, after some gentle words of comfort and serious coaxing I told the truth. It all came out that some boys in the neighborhood hit me with a stone as they chanted “Mzungu! Mzungu!” Aside from warning me never to go out on my own again my parents did not say much, but it must have hit them both hard. I was just six years old.
A neighborhood discussion was called. Police were involved and they gave some talks to the school children in the area, probably about tolerance. I stopped my visits to the kiosk. My carefree approach to life changed forever. That day remains firmly etched in my mind as the day the world tried to show me that life is colour coded. Indeed, life repeatedly tries to inculcate division, fear, hate, anger… but somehow I still remain locked into my fantastic world of colourful ideas.

Much love,
Julie aka Soaring Eagle…

Lupita Nyong'o Oscars win rekindles dream of African actresses.

2014-03-28T16:28:00.002+03:00

Lupita and father Senator Peter Anyang' Nyong'o

Born in 1983 in Mexico City, Mexico, Lupita Nyong'o started acting as a teen in Kenya and went on to work behind the scenes of the film The Constant Gardener.
She directed and produced the albinism documentary In My Genes and starred in the TV series Shuga.
Nyong'o went on to earn acclaim for her role as Patsey in 12 Years a Slave (2013), for which she won the 2014 Academy Award for best supporting actress, among other honors.

As an actor, although the cameras are on me and the lights are on me, it's really not about me at all, and that always helps me get out there and do the thing I've been hired to do, because I am fighting for what my character wants. And if I'm pursuing that, then I'm OK. I'm good.– Lupita Nyong'o

Background and Travels

Her parents, Dorothy and Peter Anyang' Nyong'o, were in political exile at the time of her birth, but were able to return to their homeland of Kenya during their daughter's childhood.

Her father later became part of the country's senate while her mother, who worked in family planning, took a leadership position with the Africa Cancer Foundation.

Having taken to drama and obtaining the lead role in a production of Romeo and Juliet, Nyong'o also returned to Mexico during her teens to learn Spanish. She went to college in the United States, studying at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, and earning her degree in film in 2003.

Upon her return to Kenya during school summer vacation, Nyong'o discovered that filming for the drama The Constant Gardener was happening in her area. She joined the set as a production assistant and met Ralph Fiennes, who told her to become an actor only if it was something she couldn't imagine doing without.

Documentary and HIV Awareness

Nyong'o honed her craft as a filmmaker by directing, editing and producing the 2009 documentary In My Genes, which followed the stories of several Kenyans who are living with albinism. And she became a star of Kenyan television in Shuga, an MTV/UNICEF-backed series that looked at sexual relationships among youth in Nairobi, aiming to promote HIV awareness and safe sex via storytelling.

'12 Years a Slave'

Nyong'o returned to the States and, pursuing her interest in acting, earned a master's degree from the Yale School of Drama in 2012, having performed in works like The Winter's Tale with the school's Repertory Theatre.

Weeks before graduating she found out that she had landed the part of Patsey in director Steve McQueen's drama 12 Years a Slave. The Brad Pitt-produced film is based on the 19th century narrative written by Solomon Northup, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, a Northern-based free man who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the South. Nyong'o played the role of Patsey, an enslaved young woman who befriends Northup while being horrifically abused by plantation master Edwin Epps and his wife, portrayed by Michael Fassbender and Sarah Paulson. For her performance in the film, Nyong'o won the 2014 Academy Award for best supporting actress, among several other honors.

Multiple Awards

Nyong'o has received an array of accolades 12 Years role, receiving nominations for a Golden Globe and an Academy Award in the supporting actress categories. She's also won New Hollywood, Critic's Choice and Screen Actors Guild awards. A fast-growing fashion icon as well, with red-carpet appearances and pics in publications like InStyle and W, Nyong'o's next big-screen work is Non-Stop, which also stars Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore. The February 2014 thriller is about an air marshal confronted by a deadly ransom threat.
for her

Ten things you didn't know about Kenyan dance hall superstar Wyre the love child.

2013-12-01T13:50:00.000+03:00

-->

Love him or hate him, Kelvin Wyre is a house hold name that you can only ignore at your own demise when it comes to dance hall music regionally.

He has been in the music industry for now 17 years. Unlike other artists who have come and left, Wyre has not only cut an edge with top hits after hits but has also fun number has growing drastically both regionally and internationally sending shivers to his competitors. But as you ponders of how he manage to climb the ladder of success this far, let me take you the memory lane of how it all started.

At an early age wyre says he was fascinated by the late Michael Jackson and he will spent most of his time imitating him. Being a second born in a family of three, Wyre says he in debts his success to his family and Ted Josiah his friend and producer. He says when he joined Dagoretti High School for his A levels he joined the choir and started a group of five:Soul Pac. They performed at many city schools but later parted ways after school. He went for auditions organised by Shelton Entertaiment and emerged top in the R&B category. He furthered his career by joining Institute of Communication Studies and Development.

While in college, Necessary Noise was formed. Wyre got an internship and later a job at Ted Josiah's production house.The group launched their CD in April 2001 but later broke up after Nazizi and Bamzi had to leave for Malaysia for further studies. The group later joined again minus Bamzi but they remained strong. Wyre and Nazizi launched Necessary Noize II. His career was propelled when he featured in GidiGidi MajiMaji's and Redsan's song.

He was inspired by Hardstone and Kalamashaka.The duo joined Bebe Cool to form the award-winning East African Reggae Bashment Crew and released singles like Fire anthem, Kube, and Africa Unite. They have also collaborated with Tanzanian T.I.D. and many more. In October 2004 the two broke up to persue their own solo careers.

Wyre's debut album, 'Definition of a Love Child' was released in 2006 and is solos that continue to top charts are 'Usuhuba','Sikiza', 'Definations', 'Chuki' and 'Make a choice'. A second album called Deeper Definition is due in 2009.

Some of his songs are One thing, Uprising, I wish,Gimme the musiq, Nafasi, Drift Apart, Chuki, Sikiza, She say dat, Make a choice, Usuhuba, and Definitions.
In his first international collabo with Jamaican alaine, Wyre went as afar as ensuring that Alaine is surely the Kenyan she always says she is, he got her singing in Swahili in his latest collabo, “Nakupenda pia” and in the song, Alaine begs Wyre to teach him Swahili.

Ten things you didnt know about wyre:

1.He has never used chili sauce in his meals since he says it not enjoyable and wonders why people use it since its taste is disgusting.
2.For more than 15 years he has been in the music industry, Wyre said he has never smoked or used any alcohol.
3.He cherishes the most his private life and family.
4.He said he is shy of public attention, normally like hiding from cameras.
5. If he had supernatural powers, wish I could fly literally.
6.Has passion in Lawn tennis.
7.One food that Wyre can never eat is avocado.
8.His most embarrassing moment was when two female funs tried to pull down his pants when he was performing on stage.
9.He loves eating a lot.
10.His favourite musician is Damien Marley.

She say Dat Remix: Wyre ft Cecile

Nakupenda pia alaine ft wyre video

Sarah Hassan, East Africa rising star.

2013-11-30T17:03:00.001+03:00

Many know her as Tanya, but her real name is Sarah Hassan a glamours lady who was born on September 5th, 1988 on the cool shores of Mombasa, Kenya.

Sarah is one of the fastest rising young celebrities in Kenya. Born as an only child, Sarah’s had an exciting and decent childhood.

She was very loved. Her parents spoilt her with lots of treats but nonetheless they were keen on good morals and taught her that you have to work hard for whatever you want in life. My mum in particular was a bit strict and kept me grounded.
Sarah holds a Bachelor of science in Actuarial Science from the Jomo Kenyatta University.

Her first serious role in television as ‘Tanya’ of Tahidi High catapulted her to fame giving her awards for best actress at the annual Chaguo La Teeniez Awards ceremony.

She has also acted in Kenyan television series (an NTV medical drama) Saints as ‘Lora’, ‘Kamila’ in Demigods (also an NTV family drama), and as ‘Liza’ in M-Net’s ‘Changes’. She has also acted in a British NGO film called ‘I Am Slave’.

Apart from acting, Sarah has hosted a popular dance show called Sakata and is currently hosting an entertainment show called Mashariki Mix on DSTV’s channel: M-Net.

Her inmost desire is to be successful and to be awarded an Oscar. She is also motivated by the fact that it is important for her to be able to support her parents when they are retired.

She is also featured in various musics in Kenya and Africa and will from December 2013 be hosting the wedding show aired by citizen television.

However, one of the challenges Sarah constantly faces is being type casted, meaning, repeatedly assigned to the same kind of role based on assumed personality and appearance.

She believes that being a good actress involves being versatile and being able to transform and play any character and hence is working on altering the type casted trend.

Her advice to upcoming actors in her own words is “ Believe in yourself and in God. Take your particular role seriously by doing research about your specific character, listen to your director, follow instructions, be ready to learn and most of all, never give up!”

E-Profile of Sarah Hussan aka Tanya.

RELIGION:OPIUM FOR THE POOR?

2011-02-18T16:28:00.003+03:00

Many theologians concur that God sometimes punishes His people because He loves them and wouldn’t want them to go astray. Our African continent is plagued with many misfortunes majorly poverty, hunger and disease. This is despite the fact that we are endowed with diverse wildlife, exotic vegetation, numerous minerals including Gold and we are religious! Infact history has it that we had knowledge of God long before the missionaries stepped into the continent. So why all the suffering? I asked a friend of mine and all he said was, Religion is the opium for the poor. Really? It has a way of suggesting, ‘Suffer here, but you will enjoy life in eternity in heaven’. Am getting ahead of myself here.
Africa has a lot of talents especially the younger generation. People who have giftings in music, sports, arts, sciences, among others. What have we done? We have let the west exploit us with possibility of scholarships abroad. Young ‘geniuses’ from poor families have been ‘shipped’ to UK and United States of America, enrolled in universities and later get jobs and develop economies of the host country. Most end up not coming back home.
Since the European, Asian and North American nations have invested in Africa, they have a say on how our governments will run, they even decide what amount of aid(loan) we will get. Our politicians with all their greed have dutifully bowed to their demands just to get the money and later laud it in their pockets. They do not even pay taxes which every hardworking citizen does.

The Church has also adapted materialism concept, a walk to town will show you most if not all buildings in city centre have sprouting churches. The gospel has been turned into money making business with anointing oils being sold for ‘protection’ or ‘financial miracles’. This in turn has left the sheep hopeless and only come for services seeking to fill their spiritual void with enough ‘fuel’ to take them for another extra week till Sunday or Saturday. The result of all these, mixed theology where the sheep cannot tell which voice is calling out to them-The shepherd or the enemy. No wonder many have fallen into the traps of Islam. The fact is Islam has spread much in slum (poverty) areas. Religion may not take you to heaven but only through Jesus Christ as He is the way, the truth and the life.
Consider the story of the wayward son in Luke, he took his share of inheritance went into far away land and spent it all till he had no more. He had to survive by eating with the pigs. But once he had enough, he decided to return home.(and even become one of the father’s servants if he had to).What does His father do? He welcomes Him home and prepares a feast in His honor. God in the same way has set Africa apart, to impact the world with the gospel. We have forsaken Him and gone for priorities that are not worth our time-money, pleasure, politics etc. Yet He still calls and waits on us to turn back to Him before its too late. The question is, Will we hacken to His voice?

Zain Verjee;The shinning star of CNN

2011-01-13T14:35:00.006+03:00

BY KENNEDY LESIEW
Zain Verjee rarely dresses to impress, but she manages to impress anyway. Not even her simple light blue T-shirt, navy blue jeans and black sports shoes worn without socks dim the glamour she exudes on the small screen.

Standing 5ft9 and with a slender frame, she turned heads as she strode through the lobby of Le Rustique, a restaurant in Nairobi�s Westlands last Thursday. In person, Zain is much slimmer than the image beamed into living rooms across the world from CNN�s London bureau where she is currently based.

She hits the gym three days a week, which she says helps her stay mentally alert and healthy. Which is what her job demands. �A girl also has to look good too, doesn�t she?� she says with a wide smile. The infectious smile and pleasant personality that comes off the silver screen are just natural.

Most respected

It is now 10 years since she left the KTN and joined CNN, one of the world�s most respected media houses. She was 26 years old then, and even though anchoring was not new to her, having presented the prime-time news on KTN for sometime, she could not fight the apprehension that assailed her when she sat on the hot seat thousands of miles away from home for the first time.

It was not lost on her that this time round she would be addressing a much wider audience. �It was a really scary experience which took sometime to get used to. I cannot count the number of times I called home crying because I felt lost and did not know what I was doing,� she recalls.

But each time she hung up, she would do so with raised spirits, thanks to her parents� encouragement. Today, she cuts a very different persona from the apprehensive woman that would reach for the phone and dial home each time something went wrong at work. She is confident, self-assured and, as she passionately talks about her job, it is clear that she is very much in control.

�My managers at CNN placed me where I was bound to succeed and they supported me every step of the way until I was confident and knowledgeable enough to get the job done,� she says. She is getting the job done. Her current assignment is at CNN�s London bureau where she anchors World News.

She also has her own programme -World Report- that runs every weekday on CNN International from 8.00 a.m � 11.30 a.m.

Situation Room
A typical working day for her begins at 3 a.m. and by 11 a.m. �when you�re having your morning tea� she is wrapping up. Prior to this assignment, she was based in Washington DC, where she presented the news for The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer. She also covered the US State Department for CNN for two years and travelled with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to more than a dozen countries, including Israel, Turkey, Libya, Russia and South Korea. This assignment, she says, gave her a chance to see how diplomacy works.

�Then she was Secretary Rice, now she�s Condi,� she says of her relationship with the former US Secretary of State. This aside, Zain has interviewed international world leaders such as Pakistan�s former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on her return from exile. She also travelled back to Pakistan in December 2007 to cover the ramifications of Bhutto�s assassination.

The previous year, she reported from the Demilitarised Zone in Korea, and in September of the same year had an exclusive interview with former Iranian president Mohammed Khatami. Her coverage of the post-election violence that rocked Kenya in 2008 remains one of her most memorable assignments. �This wasn�t just any other story for me � this was my country and I couldn�t believe what was happening around me,� she says with a tinge of sadness.

Seasoned journalist

Being hit by a tear gas canister at Uhuru Park, of all places, given the significance of the name, also shook her up, but like the seasoned journalist she is, she recovered and took up from where she had left. When working, comfort comes first, so you�re likely to find her wearing jeans and sports shoes. For a night out, though, out comes the dress and stilettos.

During her spare time, she enjoys writing, something that she is passionate about, and out of which she published a children�s book, Live and On Air, a couple of years ago. In future, she plans to write more. Despite the enviable position in the media, Zain is modest about her achievement. �I don�t let success define who I am � what I want to be remembered by is what I give back to society, the positive transformation that my work has on others.�

She values her time, but gladly shares it when asked to get involved in projects that aim to uplift the lives of others, especially in Africa. Women also hold a very special place in her heart. �You don�t necessarily have to help financially to make a positive impact, there are so many other ways of helping.�

Zain, the first born of two children, readily admits that she is daddy�s girl. He would pick her up from work when she joined Capital FM and later KTN. There was a rumour that when she joined KTN, her father insisted on giving her pocket money because what she was earning was �too little� to sustain her. �That�s not true,� she says laughing. �Don�t believe everything you hear or read,� she says.

But she admits she and her father have always shared a close bond. �I am very close to both my parents, but I have a special bond with my dad. I know that he watches all my broadcasts with the same excitement he did when I anchored my first bulletin at CNN.� Her father Johnny Verjee is a hotelier while her mother Yasmin is a DNA sequencing and forensic expert.

�My brother and I had a privileged up-bringing, but humility, compassion and respect were core values that we were expected to carry with us always,� she says. It is no wonder then that her immense success has not gone into her head in spite of her charmed life. For someone who earned less than Sh20,000 at Capital FM where she cut her teeth in broadcasting, Zain is certainly enjoying a good life, admitting that her job pays well.

�CNN treats its employees really well. I am lucky because I can afford a good life, but my feet are still firmly grounded on earth,� she says. Though she says she feels most at peace while in Kenya, she lists Rome as one of her favourite holiday destinations as well as Napa Valley in California and Watamu in the Kenyan coast. She has lost count of the countries she has visited in the course of her job. For a woman that is widely travelled and can easily afford to go on shopping sprees on a whim, it comes as a surprise that she isn�t big on shopping.

No shopaholic

�Like most women, I like to look good, but I am no shopaholic,� she says. She has a wide fan base that discusses everything about her from her hair to her legs. She admits that she occasionally reads what people write about her as a way of keeping up with what viewers think about her work, but doesn�t do it obsessively, explaining that sometimes it can have a negative impact.

She has also been stalked a few times. �I guess it comes with the territory � one just has to be careful,� she says with a shrug. She is not married and she does not rule out settling down in future. So, is there someone special in her life? �That�s personal. A few years ago, my parents wouldn�t be happy when I took a man home, now they�re very happy when I do take a man home,� she says. �I�m working on it,� she says.