Former KTN journalist narrates how she was fired after anchoring resignation of Kibaki from KANU in 1991

Her name is Rose Lukalo Owino. Her father was a fellow classmate of the late Mwai Kibaki at Mang’u High School. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Punjab University in India and another Degree in Convergence and Media from the University of Missouri, Colombia. She is a columnist, development communications specialist, reality filmmaker and experienced journalist.

She was a member of the National Constitutional Conference where she represented media organizations during the adoption of the 2019 constitution where he defended media freedom.

In an interview at KBC, Rose recalled how she lost her editorial job at KTN in 1991. At the time, KTN was the only television channel in Kenya. Because the ruling party at the time KANU was very strict, journalism was strictly controlled and you had to be careful what information you provided to the public. It was in the early hours of the morning that Rose announced on television that Mwai Kibaki had resigned from KANU and formed his own Democratic Party. That was the big news that day and although it was true, the message was interpreted by the government as anti-ruling.

Rose said three hours later after announcing, at around 1:15, she received a phone call from the president of the television station and fired her. She loaded up her belongings and left and after a while she got a call from Kibaki asking if she was OK but she didn’t ask for anything else. She did not even tell her that he had lost his job.