Alex Chamwada is a renowned Kenyan journalist with over two decades experience in the media industry. From covering political to human interest stories, he has managed to create a big name for himself in Kenya and abroad. With his wealth of experience, he has been named by several newspapers and online blogs as one of the best journalist in Kenya.
The journalist has also managed to remain relevant, even after leaving Royal Media services, by delivering unique, relevant and up to date content.
Here is his story as told by WoK.
Age
The veteran journalist was born on 16th August 1971.
Education
Alex is an alumnus of St. Peter’s Mumias High school. After his O-levels, he joined Moi University for a BSC in Information Science. From Moi University, he proceeded to the University of Nairobi for a post graduate diploma in Mass Communication.
In 2004, he joined the University of Liverpool for a Master’s degree in politics and Mass media.
Family
The Moi University alumnus is married to Caroline Chamwada. Together, they are blessed with 3 children; Chelsea, Leon and Kessey. In 2016, Chelsey Adaga Chamwada sat for her KCPE and managed to score 406 marks. This saw her join one of the best schools in the country. Her father was elated and took to Facebook to expressed his joy.
“ Chelsea joins the best, Precious Blood Riruta as Chelsea FC beats Leicester City 3:0. Hatutakangi ujinga,” he posted.
Career
Alex started his media journey way back in 1994 as a volunteer at the Kenyan Broadcasting Corporation (KBC). He left in 1996 and joined a foundation for the promotion of children’s science publication in Africa as the media liaison and marketing executive.
From 1995 to 1998 he volunteered at Trans World Radio, a multinational Evangelical Christian media distributor and one of its subsidiaries has been in Kenya for decades.
From August 1999, he joined Kenya Broadcasting Network where he worked for a while before joining Royal Media Services in 1999 .
In 2001, he left to join Kenya Television Network as a senior reporter and was promoted to political editor in 2005.
2008, he went back to Royal Media Services as an Associate editor. At Citizen TV, he grew as a journalist and featured so many political stories. In 2014, he resigned from Royal Media Services. He posted the news on his website.
“Today marks a turning point in my broadcast journalism career. The Royal Media Services (RMS) has accepted my resignation as an Associate editor/reporter to enable me start a new journey to the next level.
I will soon be back on the TV screen near you with current affairs as an independent content producer. I would like to thank the wonderful team at RMS for their priceless contribution to my growth as a journalist.
Special thanks go to Dr. and Mrs. Macharia who have been my employers but also mentors and family friends, since my first day as a reporter with Radio Citizen in March 1999, at AMBANK House on University Way.
A big thank you to the group Managing Director, Mr. Wachira Waruru and the Chief Operating Officer, Ms Faridah Karoney, for their professional input and guidance while I executed my duties at RMS. I will miss the amazing newsroom team led by Nixon Nganga,” Alex Chamwada statement read in part.
The then political news reporter went on to thank even his critics and promised to be back as an independent content creator. This marked the end of his 20 year journey as a hired broadcast journalist.
Chams Media
After his resignation, Alex started his own production company known as chams Media limited. Chams is a communication consultancy firm offering TV content production services among others.
Since 2015, the company has been providing content to KTN through “The Chamwada Report” and “Daring Abroad” series. Alex Chamwada report focuses on current affairs and things to do with development while daring abroad tells the stories of Kenyans that have managed to successfully create a life abroad.
On March 31st 2020, he announced the termination of his contract with KTN. The two shows will no longer air on KTN but will still continue airing on their website and YouTube channel. He thanked KTN for the awesome journey they’ve had together.
On his resignation from KTN, Alex Chamwada stated;
“This is to let our viewers know that our productions, The Chamwada Report, a current affairs show on development issues and Daring Abroad, a series featuring Kenyans living abroad will not be airing on KTN with effect from 1st April 2020. We will inform you about our next destination in due course.”
He added:
“We would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the standard group for a successful partnership that has run for over five years. Our appreciation also goes to our viewers in general. Many thanks too, to all our partners for your continued support.”
Award
The former Citizen TV Presenter has managed to scoop several rewards during his tenure as a broadcast journalist. These are:
- He became second runner up in Africa’s most prestigious award on food security reporting for the story he did on large scale farming in Somalia and was crowned by the African Media Initiative.
- Order of Grand warrior in 2010 by former president Mwai Kibaki for his professional reporting on reforms in Kenya
