Ntanina Yiapan, or Rita Tinina as she was known to many, was a Kenyan journalist with more than a decade of experience under her belt.
Her professionalism coupled with her golden voice made her a household name and endeared her to many Kenyans. The news of her untimely death on Sunday, 17th March 2024 shocked Kenyans and dozens of journalists flocked on social media to express their sadness over her demise.
Here is what WoK has gathered about her,
Education
The journalist graduated from the University of Nairobi with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Media Studies.
Career
Rita built a name for herself as an anchor working under the Nation Media Group. She later left the station to join the Standard Group in 2021. Here, she continued to anchor news in English at KTN and served as a senior reporter.
In 2023, she re-joined NTV as a senior reporter and editor. The anchor has covered a lot of news over the years with some of the notable ones being:
- The coverage of president William Ruto’s case in the Hague when he was still the deputy president.
- A conservation story aimed at helping create awareness on the elephants
- The biography of the late retired Kenyan first lady Lucy Kibaki.
The celebrated journalist was the Output Producer, Broadcast Platforms at the Nation Media Group.
Family
The 46-year-old journalist was a Maasai and a mother of an eight-year-old daughter, Mia Malaik. Much is known about the family other than the name of her older sister, Helen Silau Njaga.
Death
Her death came as a shock to many. She was on shift at NTV and colleagues were shocked when she did not show up. They later realized she was dead.
She had dinner and went to bed but did not wake up the following day. According to a police report seen by this writer, she was found unresponsive on her bed in her Brooklyn apartment in Kileleshwa by the househelp who went to wake her up for breakfast.
Rita Tinina was living with her daughter and 36-year-old house help. She was epileptic and had a fever for the past five days.
