Kenyan President William Ruto has led tributes for veteran broadcaster Leonard Mambo Mbotela who died on Friday at the age of 85.
”He was a gifted and powerful broadcaster whose alluring voice dominated our airwaves with his first-class football commentaries and the signature programme “Je, Huu Ni Ungwana?”, President Ruto wrote on his Facebook page.
President Ruto said Kenyans will fondly remember Mbotela ”for the integral role he played on our radio stations — through the mentoring of young broadcasters”.
Mbotela who was of Malawian extraction had been admitted at the Nairobi West Hospital in Nairobi where he died.
The former trainee reporter with The Standard, soon found his broadcasting voice with the Voice of Kenya where his trademark “Je Huu ni Ungwana?” radio programme debuted in 1966 and continues to be aired on the Kenyan Broadcasting Cooperation to this day.
Mbotela was the journalist forced by disgruntled soldiers led by Hezekiah Ochuka to announce that then President Daniel arap Moi had been overthrown in an eventually abortive coup in 1982.
The married father of three was tasked with making the announcement that the coup had been crushed and that President Moi had regained control.
Mbotela retired in 2022 after being on air for 58 years, standing out as Kenya’s longest-serving broadcaster.
WN/as/APA