By Prudence Minayo
Fred Kagonye is a renowned Kenyan journalist working at the Standard Group owned TV station, Kenya Television Network (KTN). He covers stories on crime and investigation, parliament, politics, entertainment, and culture.
Education
The investigative reporter graduated in 2013 with a Diploma in Mass Communication from Uzuri Institute.
The media personality attended St. Paul’s University. While at the university, he began immersing himself in the world of journalism. He became the writer and sub-editor of the university’s newsletter.
Career
Fred secured an internship with Pulse Magazine while still in the university. He wrote various stories focusing on the entertainment industry in Kenya, with a bias on the gospel music industry.
The writer would then partner with a few others to launch the Pulser magazine. The magazine is no longer in circulation.
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In 2019, he joined Standard Media Academy and went to the Aga Khan university for further studies. Prior to this, he had worked as a freelance writer for two years on the entertainment desk. The training they received was about shifting their mindsets and acquiring skills that enable them to work on all platforms comfortably.
The journalist has since worked on a couple of stories and one that is trending in the country at the moment involved fraudsters.
Con Story
Partnering with Swahili journalist Siraju Rahman, he went undercover. This was in order to expose a gang that was stealing money from unsuspecting Kenyans. The gang is reportedly licensed to operate as a gaming corporation by the Nairobi county government. They lure their victims through games where they lie to them that they’ve won a certain prize. The gang members then inform them that to win the prize, they have to pay a certain amount of money. This is how they steal money. Anyone who tries to get back their money is immediately threatened and has to go away for fear of violence.
Kagonye reported that the gang works in cohorts with police officers. Hence, some have no confidence even while reporting to the police officers that they have been conned. The police receive money from the gang in order to ensure its protection.
In the course of the investigation, the gang threatened Siraju. One of the members told him he would gun him down the next time he spots him. This is because he was interfering with his businesses. The journalist had no choice but to run away for his life before his cover could be exposed.