Of all corruptible Media personalities,the one I would least expect to be caught up in some stupid bribery scandal is Swaleh Mdoe,among a few elite others. Swaleh’s a TV veteran. And a very highly-regarded media heavyweight. And Kenyan,too.
What would motivate a man of such a high social standing as Swaleh Mdoe to collude with his equally respected and trailblazing colleagues to mint money from some politician in order to kill a damning story?
I was shocked sick to learn that Citizen TV had suspended the almost insuspendable Swaleh Mdoe,an almost permanent fixture on our TV screens.
Mdoe has been an employee at Citizen TV for ages,He’s racked up clean years of impeccable duty and service,he’s inspired and nurtured dozens young TV reporters and anchors,he’s covered a billion stories-some big,some small-he’s been down the road and back,he’s made his name,created an unbreakable legacy and left a sure imprint on the walks of Television.
His TV hosting skills are maverick. And in all ways pragmatic. He seemed not to play by the rules,seems to write his own script,seems to have a free hand,do as he wish,chart his own path and introduce his own TV skills. And,unsurprisingly,they work.
So,how does such a man,with all those beautiful years of experience,with such a well-manicured TV career,with all that massive following and unbreakable national respect end up getting caught up in a messy bribery web?
Who could corrupt Swaleh Mode,the unofficial Father Of Swahili Bulletin?
It’s simply crazy.
Crazy that a man of such a lofty social standing,a man of his age and vast knowledge,a man as venerated and trailblazing as Swaleh Mdoe would,just like any other small-time TV reporter,be enticed and wooed into some unscrupulous money deal to ditch his ethics and short-change millions of information-deserving Kenyans. While corrupting his own morals and peeing on his own bosses all at the same time.
Citizen TV,allegedly,pays it’s employees super huge amounts of salaries…Either in order to keep them,genuinely appreciate them or simply because they deserve it. And have earned it.
I do NOT know how much Swaleh Mdoe is paid…But I have a hunch,as anyone would,that the TV legend’s salary was anything but measly. Swaleh Mdoe,I am told,is one of the highest paid TV anchors in the Country. Not just at Citizen TV. And we all know why.

Why,then,with a salary as huge,a legacy as beautiful,a name as powerful and a career as legendary,would Swaleh Mdoe AGREE to let all this go down the drain for the sake of some shady deal that,somehow,would be busted? And exposed?
Evidently,it’s NOT YET confirmed that Swaleh Mdoe and his compatriots, some very respectable too (Mwanahamisi Hamadi,Kimei arap Kimeli) actually did take the alleged bribe as they are still under probation and the saga is still under investigation.
But the fact that these TV legends could be mired in a plot so messy and caught up in a scandal so reproachable,it goes on to show just how,either; Money is NEVER enough or how Kenyan politicians are powerful and can-and always have-bought their way around our media houses.
Kenyans,by Constitution,enjoy a right to INFORMATION and it’s a shame that that right is being poo pooed by personalities we least expect. Personalities we expect to stand by us…personalities we’ve always looked up to,personalities we revere,personalities we grew up watching on TV and personalities who our children actually look up to and want to be like.
And in as much as money IS the root of evil,as it is said,It must also be pointed out that GREED actually is the bigger root of all this evil.
It’s a pity that Kenyans are been forced to buy set-top boxes and invest in some randomTV decoders they otherwise would have done without only to be shortchanged further…By NOT been provided the information they invested money in to get. And by having their number one sources of truthful information falling prey to bribery and covering up massive scandals.
Swaleh and his luckless compatriots are still under investigation. I do not know how it may turn out…But whatever the result,Kenyans MUST DEMAND truthfulness not just from the media houses but also from the independent news anchors.
This scandal,surely,will taint Swaleh Mdoe’s hitherto clean record. And it doesn’t matter what the verdict is,His unblemished standing in society shall be affected. If it hasn’t already.
And this,I hope,should be a lesson that less-known,less-popular TV anchors can learn in their future dalliance with questionable Politicians who will do anything to bribe them and cover their faces…effectively wrecking the desirous TV host’s career. For good.
There are many lessons to learn here. But not more than the questions we have to ask.
Swaleh Mdoe,Good Luck in the meantime.
I don’t know what you’ll miss most if he’s finally found culpable…But as for me,the always hilarious and cryptic Tafakari Ya Babu segment is what I will miss most. And that calmness and genial demeanor he always exhibits in his bulletins.
But I’m still in shock. I thought greed had it’s own special kind of prey…the weak and vulnerable and under-renumerated and cheeky.
Clearly,when the greed bug bites,anyone can be a victim. Anyone…
As it’s sort of looking like…
It’s a sad day for Television.
Sad.