KANZE DENA: How I left KBC for Citizen Tv

After laying her daughter to rest, Kanze returned to Nairobi to pick up the pieces of her life, which included joining Foundation College of Professional Studies for a diploma in mass communication. She thereafter went for internship at the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) as a producer. She was involved in producing local shows such as Vitimbi and Vioja ya Mahakamani. Soon after, she got a chance to read radio news still with the same media house. Her big break came when she was asked to stand in for a colleague who had not showed up to read the four o’clock news on TV.

“The Editor in Chief Mr Hiram Mucheke was impressed and told me from then on, I would be reading the four o’clock news. It wasn’t long before I was promoted to reading the seven o’clock news. I stayed with KBC for five years before Citizen TV came calling with a better offer in 2007,” she recalls.

At Citizen TV, where she works up to this day, she quickly proved she was worth her salt and in 2013; she was given a weekend slot alongside her co-host Lulu Hassan. She reads the Swahili bulletin – Citizen Nipashe – that airs on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. She also directs news bulletins as well as shows such as Slimpossible, Gospel Sunday and Citizen Extra, which airs every morning from Monday to Friday.

It’s been 10 years since she joined Citizen TV and 15 years as a newscaster and it is thus understandable that she is such a household name and a darling to many viewers. She explains that she tries to remain relevant by purposely reinventing herself and the shows she hosts.