Veteran Journalist Leonard Mambo Mbotela Is Dead

Veteran media personality Leonard Mambo Mbotela has died. He was 84 years old. The veteran journalist had been unwell for some time and he breathed his last at around 9:30 am on Friday.

Mbotela was married to Alice Mwikali who together had three children: Aida Mbotela, Jimmy Mbotela and George Mbotela.

The legendary journalist was famed for his popular radio and TV programme dubbed Jee Huuu ni Ungwana which aired on KBC radio and TV.

The program was created in 1966 and it enjoyed coverage for about 55 years. He briefly worked with Kenya Weekly News and the East African Standard before joining KBC.

The veteran journalist was born in Freetown, Mombasa in 1940 to James and Aida Mbotela. He was the firstborn in a family of eight children.

Having practised journalism for over five decades, a major highlight of his career is the 1982 coup that sought to overthrow then-President Danie Moi.

The operation saw some officers from the Kenya Air Force storm Mbotela’s house in Ngara where they captured him and led him to Voice of Kenya (VOK) studios where he was forced to announce that Moi’s government had been overthrown.

First published here: The Star

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