On the morning of January 4, 2022, Kenyans woke up to news that investigative journalist and Africa Uncensored C.E.O. John-Allan Namu had landed a high-ranking job at Reuters. Articles here, here, and here report the same. News of his supposed new job was also circulated on Twitter with some people even congratulating him.
Background
With a career spanning over 18 years, and 17 of them spent covering investigative stories John-Allan Namu has become a household name. His interest in journalism was piqued when one of his relatives was featured in the dailies, accused of corruption. The fact that the story almost ruined the relative’s life, yet no one bothered to listen to his side if the story did not sit well with Namu, since according to him, a good journalist should get a notion and follow it wherever the truth leads without seeking to prove something they think is true. Determined to learn how to do this, he pursued journalism at the United States International University.
Best known for his work on The Inside Story and Jicho Pevu alongside current Nyali Member of Parliament, Mohammed Ali while both of them worked at KTN, Namu also worked at NTV before he and some of his colleagues branched out to start Africa Uncensored. Under this new umbrella, he and his colleagues have produced indispensable investigative and in-depth stories; The Profiteers, Kanjo Kingdom, Inspector Fisi, and Thao just to name a few.
His dedication to his craft has not gone unnoticed both locally and internationally. He’s won various awards from the coveted CNN African Journalist of the year in 2009 to being named the Human Rights Defender of the year on December 2, 2022.
Verification
Claims of John-Allan Namu’s new job have not been shared on the official Africa Uncensored Twitter page nor on their Facebook page. John-Allan has also not shared news of this appointment on his Twitter handle.
On October 12, 2022, John-Allan held a training with the Thomson Foundation. This was a training and not a “high paying” job as claimed.
When asked to comment on the claim John responded;
“ The rumours of my landing a high paying job are greatly overestimated. This was a training I am helping with. The facts are that I am doing a short training course for the Thomson foundation on the basics of investigative journalism.”
Verdict
Claims that John-Allan Namu has landed a high-paying job with Reuters are MISLEADING.
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