Mercy Mmbone is a renowned journalist and presenter at Milele FM where she hosts the mid-morning show ‘Kazi na mpango’.
This is her journey as told by WoK:
Early Life
Although a Luhya, Mercy was born in Nandi County as the last born and the only girl in a family of six siblings. Her parents were both teachers.
As a child, Mercy aspired to be a media personality, inspired by the likes of the late Catherine Kasavuli and Ann Ngugi.
“I told my mother that one day I would become like them. I did not know the weight behind that statement,” she once disclosed.
She attended her primary education at Kamime Primary School in Nandi County. She then joined Goibei Girls High School, where she was a devout member of the journalism club.
She niched in sports news, participating in sports events within and outside the school to gather news.
“I would compile the news and report them during assembly,” said the camera-shy Mmbone.
After completing her KCSE, tragedy struck when her second-born brother passed away days after being recruited into the Kenya Defence Forces.
His death occurred a mere five years after the family had lost their firstborn, and considering that she had lost her father while in class three, Mmbone’s family was left without a reliable breadwinner.
Consequently, she stayed at home for a year before her mother got enough money to enroll her in college.
Following her neighbor’s recommendation, she enrolled at Jordan College of Technology in Thika to pursue a diploma in Mass Communication and Journalism.
Completing college was a struggle due to the lack of school fees. Before her graduation, Mercy had to defer her exams for a while as she looked for internship opportunities so she could pay school fees to be allowed to sit for the final exams.
“I tarmacked a lot, looking for internship opportunities. I had written down the addresses of numerous media houses, to whom I would send my CV via Posta. But I never got a response,” she once recounted in an interview.
After several fruitless efforts, she decided to return to the village as life in Thika had become too challenging.
Radio Career
It was after spending some days at the village that she received a call from Kibera-based Pamoja FM management inviting her for an interview. Her efforts had paid off.
“That was a life-changing call,” said Mmbone.
She interned at Pamoja FM for three months, anchoring sports news and co-hosting a weekend sports show.
Since interns were not paid, she ventured into hawking in the streets of Githurai 45 to make ends meet.
Through her brother, who sympathised with her struggles, she got another internship opportunity at Eldoret-based Biblia Husema Broadcasting station.
She worked at BHB for two and a half months, then quit to take care of her mother who had fallen sick.
She also reverted to entrepreneurship, selling braids and doll shoes in Eldoret streets, which enabled her to save enough money to complete her exams at Jordan College.
After graduating, Mmbone got an internship position at Sifa FM in Garissa. There, she worked as a news anchor, reporter, and hosted a rumba show.
Just when she was completing her internship, Milele FM called for job applications to fill the shoes of some presenters who had left the station.
Mercy applied for the position of sports anchor.
Through friends, she got the sports editor’s email, to whom she pitched directly. This, coupled with the fact that she was a female sports anchor – they were rare at the time – gave her an edge over other applicants.
However, Milele FM did not have a vacancy for a sports anchor. Luckily, the boss, Mr Titi Nagwalla, was impressed by her fluent Swahili and decided to hire her as an intern.
“ I was lucky to be hired as an intern. Media Max, the company that owns Milele FM, had a policy of only hiring interns who were in school. But the HR department at Milele Fm decided to keep me,” Mmbone would later recount.
That was in 2016.
At Milele, she started as a sports reporter and also co-hosted a sports show during the weekend. She was also a swing presenter, sitting in for absent presenters.
After some time, Milele FM boss Joyce Gituro noticed her prowess behind the microphone and bargained for her permanent employment at Milele FM in 2019.
Today, Mmbone’s Kazi na mpango show is listened to by thousands of fans countrywide. She also hosts the Shangwe na utukufu show on Sunday afternoons.
Besides media, she sells boiled and packed kienyeji vegetables and advocates for nutritious campaigns at Nutritious Vegetables.
She also brands merchandise for businesses.
