Kathleen Openda is a journalist and former employee of KTN. She worked as a journalist and communications consultant for over two decades. After leaving KTN, she was appointed head of corporate affairs at Barclays and Nation Media Group.
Here is her story as told by WoK.
Career
She worked for Kenya Television Network for years and became a known face in the industry. She hosted various shows including the Breakfast Show, Third Opinion and Enterprise Kenya.
Third Opinion show invited Kenyans to give their take on issues of governance and civil society while Enterprise Kenya was one of the first shows focusing on the hustlers rather than big corporations.
The veteran journalist was the narrator of a documentary done by Initiative of Change called an African Answer. Shot in Kenya, the documentary showed the process of reconciliation following the 2007- 2008 post election violence.
She was named an Eisenhower fellow even as the documentary was dubbed an icon of excellence by the Eisenhower Fellowship Website.
Then, she became a communications consultant for Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission of Kenya (TJRC). In 2010, she was appointed its director of communication.
In the past, she was nominated by the media council of Kenya as a member of the Broadcasting Content Advisory Council (BCAC).
Openda also served as the director in charge of communications and media at the secretariat team which was behind the campaigns of ODM party leader Raila Odinga in the 2017 elections.
In 2018, former president Uhuru Kenyatta appointed her chairperson of the Council of the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC).
Recently, president William Ruto terminated her appointment at KIMC and put former spokesman of the National Police Service, Charles Owino in her place.
Education
The former journalist is an alumni of the University of Nairobi and the University of Wales Cardiff’s Broadcast Journalist Unit under the Thompson Foundation.
