By Prudence Minayo
Linda Ogutu is a Kenyan news anchor and social media personality. The veteran journalist has worked for leading media houses in the country.. Below is a brief story on her life from details this writer was able to gather.
Age
There are no details of her age as she has never revealed it. Though, she was born in Bondo, Sakwa, Kakuodi village, Siaya county.
Family
Details of her mother or siblings are not available but her father passed away in 2016. Tom Ogutu succumbed to lung cancer at the Meridian Hospital in Nairobi West on 6th March 2016. On 2019, while hosting “ The Big Story” Linda recalled live how it was to lose her father to cancer:
“ My father died from lung cancer. By the time they were figuring out the disease, it was at stage four. There was little we could do. This is Kenya’s biggest nightmare,” said Linda Ogutu.
Marriage
The gorgeous TV siren is married to Dennis Mombo Mwangeka who is a money lender/ Shylock. In 2013, their home was raided by the police and he was arrested. The police thought he was a carjacker due to the number of cars found in their home. He was released when they found out he gives loans and take cars as collateral.
2015 Linda almost lost her husband to armed robbers. As he made his way to his Mountain view estate home, a gang kidnapped him. They took him to an apartment in Kileleshwa where he was brutalized and almost murdered. The gang had already stolen Sh80,000, an iPhone and a wristwatch and were demanding Sh20 million Kenyan Shillings as ransom from his wife. After 5 hours of torture, the flying squad rescued him and it was discovered one of his employees had colluded with the kidnappers.
Children
The KTN news anchor and her husband are blessed with one daughter. Amira Christa Mwangeka was born in 2012. Linda has kept her out of the limelight. She only showed her beautiful face to the public in 2014 and has since kept her out of social media.
Career
Linda has worked for two leading media houses in Kenya:
Nation Media Group: The popular anchor worked for NTV as an anchor for a while before resigning following in the footsteps of her colleagues who had previously resigned from the station. Nairobi Wire revealed that at the time Mohammed Ali and John Allan Namu had also resigned citing lack of independence in their investigating works since the station was heavily influenced by politicians. Linda Ogutu announced her resignation on Twitter:
“ Just made a final exit from NTV. Am grateful for all the support I have received from different quarters… Let me begin a new journey. – Linda Ogutu (@lindahoguttu) November 15, 2012)
Standard Media Group
Upon her resignation from NTV, she joined KTN as a prime time news anchor where she works to date. She has interviewed several big names, such as William Samoei Ruto and has covered so many human interest stories.
One notable tense interview was between Embakasi North MP Babu Owina and former Kenya Airways marketing director Chris Diaz. The two were guests and the panelists were giving their opinion on the Kenya Ports Authority – KQ merge plan. This was when Babu called his fellow guest a thief. Linda Ogutu dared Babu to leave the set if he can’t use civilized language and the Embakasi North MP replied, “What do you know about civilization?” Linda called for a break and the audience could see the MP removing his microphone and throwing his hands up in the air. After the break, the interview continued like nothing ever happened and Linda started by saying the gentlemen had agreed to be nice to each other.
Net Worth
Her exact net worth is not known but judging by social media pictures of luxurious cars and a palatial home she seems to enjoy a luxurious life.