Akisa Wandera is a Kenyan journalist working under the Standard Media Group. The beautiful news anchor is soft-spoken and reads the news with an eloquence that only comes with skill and experience.
She encourages young people studying media-related fields or starting their careers as journalists to be open-minded.
This is because it is a very competitive field and one needs to read widely. Plus, technology and time change and this is the time to let go of the rigidity of TV or radio and expand into new spaces.
Age
She was born on 13th July 1992.
Family
The news anchor comes from a family of 6 children, five sisters and one brother. Her sisters are Irene Sifuna, Vivian Nabwire, Sharonne Kiaye, and Velma Wandera while her brother is named Michael Brooks. Lyndah Amran Olivier is her mother’s name.
Education
In 2013, she graduated from the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC). While at KIMC, she used to read news for the school-based radio and also did a number of voiceovers for people’s projects. Her favorite units were TV production, news writing, and English but she wasn’t a fan of photography.
She always wanted to further her education, a desire that prompted her to join United States International University immediately (USIU) after joining The Standard Media Group.
“I went to school immediately after I joined KTN. I joined the Standard Media Group in March 2016 and decided to immediately enroll at the university,” she told Kenyans.co.ke
She joined in May 2016 and was awarded Cum Laude distinction on Saturday, September 26, 2020, as she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the school of Journalism, Cinematic and Creative Arts.
Career
She first worked at GBS, a Korean-owned station.
In 2014, she joined Ebru TV where she worked as a news anchor and also as the host of the show dubbed Tabletalk.
In 2016, she joined Kenya Television Network as a news anchor. She was introduced to the audience by veteran journalist Ben Kitili and went on to do an amazing job. After her first stint as a news anchor, she was so elated by the feedback that she took to social media to express her joy.
“The amount of feedback received from yesternight as I debuted on KTN was and still is overwhelming… Thank you so very much for the support and criticism… The journey continues…” she wrote.
The beginning of her job at KTN was literally baptism by fire. She was immediately told to anchor the news. While she had been doing this previously at Ebru TV, KTN was a completely different place and it was much bigger. Despite this, she managed to do an impressive job that pleased her bosses, hence, she was offered a permanent position.
Achievements
In 2015, she was among the first runners-up during the Media Councils Annual Journalism Excellence Awards for the category Best Presenters of the Year.
Covid-19 Experience
Wandera has been among the media personalities in Kenya who have had an encounter with Covid-19. She tested positive and encouraged people to take care of themselves since the experience was terrible.
“Daily reminder to wear your mask and take all necessary precautions. That virus has shown me terrible things these past two weeks…But thank God we’re almost fully recovered. Take care of yourselves,” she wrote on Twitter.
