Tom Mboya is an award winning Kenyan journalist who has worked with some of the biggest media houses in the country. Tall, dark, handsome and fashionably dressed, Tom rose to be a household name in the country thanks to his commanding voice and ability to deliver news eloquently. At one point, amidst his career success, he was dealing with his own personal demons brought about by alcoholism. One minute he was at the height of his career and the next he disappeared from the limelight.
This is a man who gave up a very handsome salary in the hospitality industry to join the media industry not knowing if he would even be successful. He was just determined to do his passion. He steadily rose in the media industry till he became a force to reckon with. Tom Mboya went on to receive the coveted CNN Journalist of the Year Award 2012 and in 2013 received the Global orders award.
Today, he is back on the screens like he never left and is doing an amazing job. He has managed to overcome his struggle with alcoholism and has been sober for quite a number of years.
Career
The award winning journalist began his career at the hospitality industry where he earned good money. He ditched the hospitality industry to join the media world where he started off by making a meager Ksh7,200. He steadily rose through the ranks and within no time was working as a senior news anchor for Citizen TV.
He left Citizen TV and joined K24 where he worked as a senior news anchor before being let go. In an interview published by the Standard, he revealed that after receiving global awards it was very confusing to be let go by the station.
“When you receive global awards, you feel it as a vote of confidence in your ability to get the job done. But just as fast, I was let go by K24 TV. I was at my Peak and suddenly I didn’t have a job,” he said.
This really confused him since he had been named the best in Africa yet he was being told they were not impressed with his job.
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In June 2021, he came back to the screens as a reporter for KBC which had just re-re-branded.
Family
The seasoned news anchor is a single father of six children. He had three children with his first wife before the marriage went downhill. He fathered his other three children with another woman. He loves his children and at times has had to play the role of both mom and dad.
At one point, a woman named Elsie Achieng came out to accuse him of neglecting their child and sued him for Ksh50,000 monthly upkeep. The journalist did not comment much on this at the time as it was a court case.
Struggle with Alcohol
The journalist has previously admitted to having struggled with alcohol. His father had also struggled with the same problem.
“I got pancreatitis. I was hospitalized for some time and was in a coma for a month,” he said.
He revealed that alcohol would have killed him but thanks to the disease he finally got the strength to fight it.
