Citizen TV news presenter Yvonne Okwara Matole is one of the highly-ranked journalists in Kenya. Her journey to the top has, however, never been easy as some people think.
Born in Nairobi, Yvonne attended Kianda High School for her secondary education. Having excelled in her national papers, she enrolled at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), where she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology.
In a past Twitter question and answer session, Yvonne revealed her first job was as a waitress at a restaurant located at Reinsurance Plaza, earning Sh150 a day.
“The restaurant opened at 9 am. We had to be in at 7 am. Closed at 8 pm. Stayed till 10 pm to clean up. All for 150bob. But I learned a lot. To respect wait staff and dealing with people! A smile goes a long way. Earned more in tips this way!” she stated.
Her career in the media industry began at KBC, where she was hosting a children’s show. She later landed a role at Hot 96FM and later at the Nation Media Group.
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At the Nation Media Group, she worked as a radio talk show producer for QFM in 2008. She also had the opportunity to do voice-over work for NTV’s business show “Money Matters.”
After quitting Nation, Yvonne was hired by Kenya Television Network (KTN) on a five-year contract in 2012 before meeting her current employer.
In 2018, she joined Royal Media Services as Citizen TV prime-time news anchor. She was later promoted to the post of senior news anchor and editor in charge of research and planning.
Throughout her over 13 years serving in both radio and television, Yvonne has received no known awards.
