Carol Radull is a renowned Kenyan journalist, media personality, television and radio sports presenter.
The celebrated show host boasts a vast career in the media industry having worked at Radio Africa for over two decades.
Radull is an ardent English Premier League side, Arsenal FC supporter. Her love for sports and supporting local talent has made her a darling to many.
She grew up in a sports oriented family and was exposed to various disciplines at a very young age. This has enabled her take the male dominated field with a storm, discussing and analysing various sports with ease.
As a result, she commands a huge following both on her show and online due to her in depth knowledge of sports.
Background & Family
Radull was born on September 18, 1976 to Alex and Patricia Radull from Bondo, Siaya County. She had two brothers and one sister, namely Joseph, George and Florance
The media personality was born and lived in Botswana with her parents until she was 13 years old, when they relocated to Kenya. Her father was a mining engineer.
When Radull was 15, her younger brother was diagnosed with cancer, the first case ever to be recorded in the family. It was a type of blood cancer known as Hodgkin’s disease, that later claimed his life.
While appearing on a past interview on K24, the sports journalist recounted how their life took a wrong turn after their father’s inquests in Angola were affected by a civil war (1975-2002).
“Here my dad was, he was out of a job but had started businesses and he was dealing with the first case of cancer in the family. My brother had Hodgkin’s disease. It is a form of Leukemia.
“By the time you are thinking about how to deal with the disease, it is already over. You are like, nobody dies in my family, and I was in Form Four when he died so he messed up my education. It was hard…” she recounted.
“My mom took it the hardest. She is the one who would stay up with him throughout the night when he was not eating and was throwing up.
“She was also there for him when he rapidly lost weight and mark you, he was already a thin child, you know, all these things that happen with cancer…” she narrated.
Radull would also end up losing another brother in 1998, who was fatally stabbed by thugs in the streets.
Not so long after losing her brothers, she lost her father to prostate cancer, on May 19, 2013.
“His was slightly better in that he had ten years of it. It was caught early and he underwent surgery, did the radiotherapy, made us all broke again… Oh, I have friends who came through for me…,” she emotionally recounted.
Education
Radull began her early education in Botswana before her family relocated to Kenya and she started to learn Kiswahili.
Her parents were very active in sports and the company he worked for, provided Radull with all the sports facilities they needed. This helped her build a sporting foundation.
“I participated in all sports and am familiar with the rules, which makes it easy for me to watch and talk about them in my show,” she said during an interview with the Standard in 2018.
Details of her secondary and tertiary education, however, remain unknown to the general public.
Marriage
Radull married Mike Njiru in 2009. Their marriage was well for the first six years. It began to get rocky in the seventh year and they both opted for a divorce.
She is now reported to be dating former Gor Mahia player and Jaza Stadi Initiative CEO Bramwell Karamoja.
Career
Radull boasts a decorated career in the media industry spanning over 20 years.
She began her journey as a business journalist covering the stock markets and hard news on a print desk.
“After finishing campus, I joined theatre. I would do voice overs for KBC’s theatre programmes and later, I rose to be an anchor. I was trained by Raphael Tuju alongside the late Anne Ofula and Yusuf Ali (Citizen TV). I then got the opportunity to move to the Mohammed Amin Foundation for ‘Africa Journal’,” she told the Standard.
Radull worked at Reuters and later as the head East African Producer for the BBC World Service between July 1997 – April 1999 before finding her home at Radio Africa.
She was initially interviewed and hired by Kiss 100 as a news presenter, however, a mixup occurred that propelled her into the world of sports.
“Initially, it was supposed to be hosted by Maina Kageni and Jimmy Gathu. However, Maina got busy on the first day and Jimmy had to do it alone. Unfortunately, he was not quite familiar with football and so, Caroline Mutoko recommended that I sit in for Maina. The show has played a part in transforming the Kenyan Premier League,” she stated.
“One day, I got curious about Kenyan Premier League and decided to go to the stadium with a couple of friends. Among those friends was my husband who happens to know more about local football than I do. Soon, it became a cool thing to attend football matches,” she added.
Radull had been a sports journalist and show host at Radio Africa for 21 years until she announced her departure from the media house on July 31, 2021.
She took to social media to announce her departure, and detailed her reasons for leaving. She stated that she would now venture further into sports.
“Saturday, July 31, marks the end of a 21-year relationship. I joined the Radio Africa Group on the 8th of Aug 2000 as a news reporter and was soon promoted to be the head of News at Kiss 100.
“While I respect all the opportunities I got at Radio Africa; most of them management opportunities; I never believed I was designed to push papers and write reports,” she stated.
Achievements
Radull thanked the media house, taking note of her achievements at the media house during her two-decade tenure.
“In 2008 I launched Radio Jambo and was the station’s first Programme Controller. I pride myself in hiring Gidi Gidi (who had no belief in himself as a presenter and accused me of removing him from his PLUSH job at UNEP as an IT executive “for this”! Ghost Mulee, who also questioned me during his job interview whether he could really be a radio presenter,” she noted.
Radull has over the years scouted and hired sports talent for media houses, some of them include Bramwell Mwololo, Fred Arocho, NTV‘s Idah Waringa as well as Citizen TV‘s Mukami Wambora.
Philanthropy
The Kenyan sports influencer has dedicated her career to nurture others through professional training and charity.
In 2019, Radull celebrated her birthday by treating children at the Kenyatta National Hospital with a visit.
She spent her day with children at the cancer treatment ward, shared a meal with them and narrated stories.
“After celebrating so many birthdays it reaches a time when giving and sharing is so much more rewarding than receiving and eating alone.
“Due to health restrictions you can’t carry much to children’s cancer Ward 1E but KNH did allow us to take fruits. It was such a joy playing, chatting and eating with the kids.
“Sorry I can’t share their photos but I will treasure this visit until the next one… and it was great to see our Chemo chairs still operational,” she shared.
Radull is perhaps the number one champion for Kenyan talent cutting across all sports, and has often urged Kenyans to support and promote local talent.
