Published on February 7, 2025 by Agencies for Kenya Online News
Last Updated on 1 year by Agencies for Kenya Online News
Veteran media personality Leonard Mambo Mbotela famed for the popular radio and TV programme dubbed Jee Huuu ni Ungwana which aired on KBC radio and TV has died.
The veteran journalist had been unwell for some time and he breathed his last at around 9:30 am on Friday, February 7th, 2025.
His daughter-in-law Anne Mbotela confirmed to the Star his death.
“It is true my father-in-law has passed on,” Anne told the Star.
Mbotela was married to Alice Mwikali who together had three children: Aida Mbotela, Jimmy Mbotela and George Mbotela.
The popular radio and TV programme dubbed Jee Huuu ni Ungwana programme 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 Frere town, 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.
Present while announcing was Private Hezekiah Ochuka.
