This archive report was first published on 5 May 2020.
Anne Kiguta Parries The Punches as Presenter's Boxing Ring Goes Unhinged ¶
Published on May 5, 2020
Anne Kiguta, a K24 TV presenter, has found herself at the center of a controversy after a broadcast opinion deemed 'grossly' biased against Deputy President William Ruto.
Uasin Gishu Woman Representative Gladys Boss Shollei blasted Kiguta for what she described as baiting her to attend an interview on April 19 with the intention of using her voice to prefigure a nine-minute recital that bordered on sending a message to Ruto that there can only be one president in the country.
Shollei claimed that the interview was facilitated by Political Scientist Mutahi Ngunyi and the recital allegedly authored by the popular Fifth Estate columnist.
Shollei said in a video posted on various social media platforms, 'It has become clear that this was a ploy to anchor a desperate, contradictory, misinformed and ill-advised message crafted by Ngunyi at the behest of his masters with Anne Kiguta providing a voice. The manner in which my participation was exploited without my notice or consent in this unethical and lowly charade has constrained me to offer this rejoinder.'
However, Kiguta maintained that her opinion was not motivated by her links to the Kenyatta Family, despite siring two children with President Kenyatta's nephew and personal assistant Jomo Gecaga.
She said in her Punchline, 'It remains clear that there is some kind of denial on the part of politicians allied to the Deputy President as the struggle for the party (Jubilee Party) continues. The DP's allies continue with this narrative that theirs is a struggle for party democracy and values against party outsiders who are trying to take control of Jubilee but the truth is much simpler.'
But Kiguta's opinion was met with a backlash from Bahati MP Kimani Ngunjiri, who hurled expletives at Kiguta to drive home his point that Kiguta has watered down her brand and fully embraced partisan politics.
Mediamax, the parent company of K24, is currently struggling to sustain its employees, and it is possible that Kiguta's name might be first on the retrench list despite her links to the Kenyatta family which owns majority stake in Mediamax.
