Jeff Mwaura Koinange (born 7 January 1966) is a Kenyan journalist and host of '' Jeff Koinange Live'', a talk show on

Citizen TV Citizen TV is a Kenyan free-to-air news television channel owned by Royal Media Services and broadcasting mostly in English and Swahili. It was started in 1999 and relaunched in June 2006. News and programs Citizen TV airs a variety of genre ...

since February 2017. He is also a radio host, alongside Nick Odhiambo, on the breakfast show at HOT 96, the English-language station owned by Royal Media Services. He was a judge representing

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at the new East Africa's Got Talent, which premiered on 4 Aug 2019. He served as the

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

correspondent for

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

and

CNN International CNN International (CNNI, simply branded on-air as CNN) is an international television channel that is owned by CNN Global. CNN International carries news-related programming worldwide; it cooperates with sister network CNN's national and inte ...

from 2001 to 2007, and later as chief reporter at TV station K24 from 2007 to December 2012. Before joining KTN, he worked with KTN on his branded news program, Jeff Koinange Live. He had earlier served as the chief

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄ� ...

Africa for Arise Television Ltd based in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

. He joined East Africa's Got Talent as a judge alongside Gaetano Kagwa, Makeda Mahadeo and

Vanessa Mdee Vanessa Hau Mdee (born 7 June 1988), is a Tanzanian singer, rapper, television personality and radio host. Mdee is popularly known for being the first ever Tanzanian MTV VJ. She later rose to prominence as a radio and TV host, hosting ''Epic Bon ...

Early life and career

Koinange was born in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

and worked with Kenya's first independent television channel KTN. Between 1987 and 1989, he attended

Kingsborough Community College Kingsborough Community College (KBCC) is a public community college in Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system and the only community college in Brooklyn.Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York, and graduated with an associate degree. He also received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in broadcast journalism from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

. Prior to joining CNN, Koinange worked for

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...

Television from 1995 to 2001, covering Africa and serving as their chief producer from 1999 to 2001. He also worked as a producer at

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...

in 1994 and earlier worked for

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

, from 1991 to 1992. He married his second wife, Shaila Koinange, in 1998.

CNN career

Included among the more significant stories Koinange has covered for

in Africa were the crisis in Darfur, the civil wars in Liberia and

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

and the famine in

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesEmmy award. In early 2007, Koinange was reprimanded by the government of

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

for his coverageKoinange, Jeff (10 February 2002)
Koinange: Big guns, big oil collide in Nigeria.

of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). In his report, Koinange accompanied masked MEND guerillas to a camp where they were holding a number of Filipino hostages. The Nigerian government said that the report was "staged", a charge CNN denied.Staff report (1 June 2007)
CNN accused of ‘staging’ report on kidnapped Pinoys in Nigeria.
ABS-CBN He has also covered news outside of Africa, including extensive reporting on the aftermath of the Hurricane Katrina crisis in the US and the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror , image ...

.Staff report (Spring 2006)
Kingsborough Spawned Intrepid CNN Correspondent, Jeff Koinange
CUNY Matters. On 29 May 2007,

announced that Koinange was no longer employed by the network.

Post-CNN career

Seven months after leaving

, Koinange was hired as a news anchor by a new Kenyan TV station, K24, which began test transmissions in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...

in December 2007. He was the host of ''Capital Talk Show''. He now hosts 'Jeff Koinange Live', a talk show aired on Citizen TV Kenya, part of Royal Media Services and a prime news anchor for the same station.

Book: Through my African eyes

In his autobiography
Through My African Eyes
published in 2014 by the Footprints Press Kenya, Koinange describes his school days and his career climb to be one of Africa’s most recognised journalists. Despite being a public figure, he has kept a lot of his personal life private, and the book serves as a window into his life.

Philanthropy and Community Work

Koinange has been very prominent in giving back to the community in different ways. In 2017, he began an initiative to develop and stock a library in the Kibera slums where students from the neighbourhood can gain access to reading material. He has also done notable speaking engagements, such as at the

Journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (pro ...

In Africa forum, organised by a community organisation called Fatuma’s Voice in 2016.

Music

Koinange is a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

lover and appeared with Kenyan singer Sir Elvis at the Country Roads event at Thika Greens Golf Resort in September 2019. Koinange had previously appeared with Sir Elvis at other events.Capital FM Kenya, 10 December 2019
WhiteCap Beer For Brunch and Country Roads Festival Highlights
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References

External links

CNN bio on former Africa correspondent Jeff Koinange
via Mshale
Staff page on the K24 website.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koinange, Jeff Living people Kenyan journalists Kenyan radio journalists Kenyan radio presenters Kenyan television journalists Kenyan television presenters Alumni of St. Mary's School, Nairobi New York University alumni CNN people 1966 births