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Media personality Willis Raburu recently discussed the significant role Citizen TV news anchor Jeff Koinange has played in his media career.
Willis first met Jeff at Mediamax, where he was an intern. At the time, Jeff was hosting Capital Talk show on K24 TV.
As an intern, Raburu sought approval for his voice to be used on-air, but his then-boss told him that his voice was not suited for TV.
The former boss continually led Willis in circles regarding the approval process, and one day, he finally delivered the disheartening feedback.
“He would say, ‘Bring your voice, I’ll put it in the system,’ then he’d claim he had no access to the system. He’d tell me to put it on a CD, which I did, only for him to say his machine didn’t have a CD drive. He then asked for a flash drive, which I provided, and he said my flash drive had a virus.
“I did this every day for about two weeks, and he wasn’t even listening to it. Finally, he said, ‘I heard it in the system and you can’t make it.’ I asked, ‘What do you mean?’ He replied, ‘Your voice isn’t cut out for TV; I don’t think you’ll ever be on TV.’”
Willis said this feedback left him heartbroken. As he was leaving, he ran into Jeff Koinange, who at that time was the chief reporter.
Raburu was initially taken aback by the encounter because Jeff was a prominent figure and very warm towards him.
Since Jeff’s workstation was next to the boss from whom Raburu had received the bad news, he had overheard the conversation.
Koinange encouraged Raburu by offering words of support and showing his belief in him.
“I heard what that man said, but don’t worry. One day, everyone will know your name. Don’t give up,” Jeff told Willis in the elevator.
“I thought, if Jeff is saying this…sometimes God speaks through people like Jeff. I’ve never forgotten it and I remind him of it,” Raburu recalled.
The two later met again at Royal Media Services, where Jeff continued to impact Raburu’s career.
During his 13-year tenure at Citizen TV, Willis was offered a deal to join NTV, and Jeff’s guidance was invaluable, even though Raburu eventually remained at Royal Media Services.
Willis Raburu went on to become one of the most prominent journalists in Kenya, working in various roles as a reporter, anchor, and host of 10 Over 10.
As Raburu’s popularity grew, he transitioned into social media influencing.
Jeff was also instrumental during this phase. Highlighting one instance, Willis mentioned that when negotiating a deal with a travel client, Jeff stepped in to negotiate certain aspects of the deal.
He provided Raburu with the non-negotiable terms, and when Jeff noticed Willis was becoming hesitant because he thought the demands were too high, the JKL host took the phone, responded on Willis’ behalf without him seeing the final copy, and sent the list of demands.
“He said, ‘Give me your phone,’ and typed out my demands. He said, ‘We want to travel business class, we want money for shopping when we get to the destination, and we’re only going to post X number of times.’ He hit ‘send’ before I could even edit it,” Raburu recalled.
Willis was worried he had lost the deal, but the client accepted the terms.