Few female journalists have the finesse and ease of handling political debates à la Sophia Wanuna. She is what you would call an all rounded journalist who started from the very bottom. On Tuesday July 19th, she was chosen to moderate the much awaited 2022 Deputy Presidential debate held at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA).
Here is her journey to the top as told by WoK.
Sophia Wanuna
Sophia Wanuna was born and raised in the innards of Kiambu County. She attended the Catholic-owned Mirithu Girls Secondary School located in Ndeiya Village, Kiambu County where she served as the Christian Union (CU) Chairlady. She went on to attend Maseno University where she acquired a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media Technology.
Career Journey
She began her career journey in 2010 at MediaMax limited owned K24 TV as a junior reporter. She rose to become a prime time news anchor before leaving the Kijabe street located Media house in 2011. She joined Standard Media Group KTN TV as a news reporter. She covered the Westgate attack, Miguna Miguna deportation and Suguta Valley bandit attack among many other big time stories.
After the Mombasa road based media house launched a new subsidiary named ‘KTN News’, Sophia became a news anchor hosting various shows including KTN Morning Express Show that aired every weekday, The Last Word that aired from Tuesday to Thursday at 10.00pm and Weekend Prime that aired every Saturday at 9.00pm. In July 2021, she was appointed as the acting Broadcast Content Editor replacing Peter Opondo who was fired over what was termed as ‘unsatisfactory performance.’
“Last Friday, our Editor broadcasting Peter Opondo left the company to pursue other interests. I have therefore appointed Ms Sophia Wanuna to take charge of this segment of our operations until further notice. Editorial staff are hereby notified to collaborate with MS Wanuna for purposes of keeping our broadcast operations and our promise to deliver quality, in-depth and timely content to consumer on course,” read a part of Standard Group’s internal memo.
Moderating the Deputy Presidential Debate
Sophia Wanuna was handpicked to moderate the second tier 2022 Deputy Presidential debate alongside NTV’s James Smart. The debate which was organized by the different Kenyan media houses was held at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) on Tuesday 19th July 2022. The debate saw the battle between William Ruto’s running mate Rigathi Gachagua of United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and Raila Odinga’s running mate Martha Karua of Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Alliance.
