Mohammed Ali Reveals Why He Left NTV

Two weeks ago, renowned investigative journalist Mohammed Ali made his way back to KTN after only four months at NTV. Moha recently spoke to ET and revealed why he left the largest media outlet in East Africa to where he started out.

Moha said that he left NTV because the media house did not meet his expectations of serious investigative journalism standards. The bold journalist said that he realized this after his investigative piece, “Msaragambo wa Ardhi” in which he lifted the lid on the mystery surrounding the horrific murder of a driver who was burnt to death after his boss’ car was set on fire by unknown assailants in Parklands.
Moha said that the original story was supposed to run for 55 minutes, however, the story was only 30 minutes when it went on air of course after heavy editing that omitted crucial scenes that he says touched on some powerful people that Nation Group did not want to rattle. Moha also asserted that the version that went on air that it put his credibility in doubts.

“I did not agree with the way the story was edited to the point of self-censorship. We had done a good and watertight piece but the editorial chiefs ruined it. Worst of all, we had disagreed with the bosses on several occasions on when the story should have gone on air. The bosses kept on postponing airing the story to a point where it looked like they would kill it. It was finally aired when I was out of the country and when I looked at the version aired, I was shocked at how the editing had distorted the story. I was even ashamed of having my byline on it,” said Moha to ET.

Citing “too much vested interest” in the editorial policy, Moha decided to call it quits while in South Africa for an investigative journalism seminar. “I returned on November 4 and handed in my resignation on Monday, November 5,” he said adding, “When bosses edit and end up distorting your story in that manner, you risk losing your credibility especially with sources that risk their lives to give you information. Next time you seek information from such sources, they would not cooperate because they think you are a fraud. I therefore concluded that NTV was not a safe place for me to continue with serious investigative journalism because the regime there would not allow it.”