Hussein Mohammed Biography and Educational Background

A truly charismatic, talented, and very knowledgeable man, Hussein Mohammed is a Kenyan journalist and TV anchor who rose to fame while he was working as an anchor at Citizen TV, a Kenyan free-to-air television channel owned by Royal Media Services. While on the job, Mohammed charmed many viewers with his incredible delivery and soon became one of the most popular faces on TV, as well as one of the highly admired figures on Citizen TV. For many people, he is among the best journalists in Kenya and is rated among the few persons to have completely mastered the art of interviewing guests.

Eventually, Hussein Mohammed stunned many people when he suddenly announced that he was leaving the station after about a decade, leaving fans speculating what his next move would be. The man has since gone on to do other great things with his life. It is noteworthy that, apart from anchoring TV programs, Hussein Mohammed is a family man who is married to a beautiful wife. Let’s take a look at his life and career.

Hussein Mohammed Is A Very Private Person

He has always been a very private person and has kept many details about his life strictly beyond the reach of the public. The man is so private that even his date of birth remains unknown. There have been several speculations about what his exact age is, but the year or day of his birth remains unknown at the moment.

Details about the exact city or town where he was born are not known. However, we know that he was born in Kenya and is a Kenyan citizen. Also, details about who his parents are or what they do for a living are not known. It is also not clear if he has siblings or if he is the only child of his parents. The major details available to the public about Hussein Mohammed’s life are related to his career and how he rose through the ranks to achieve fame.

He Studied Photography and Journalism

Growing up, Hussein Mohammed had his high school education at the Kanyakine High School in Meru County, one of the 47 counties of Kenya. Mohammed began to nurture his desire to become a journalist right from when he was in high school. While at the Kanyakine High School, he became a member of the Journalism Club and even rose to become the chairman of the club in his senior year.

After he was done with Kanyakine High School, Mohammed proceeded to further his education at Zetech University where he studied journalism as well as photography. While at the university, he also joined journalism clubs and participated actively in them. His major aim was to inspire and develop the art of Swahili journalism.

Hussein Mohammed also has a Master’s degree. In 2019, he graduated with a Master’s in Diplomacy and International Studies from the University of Nairobi.

Hussein Mohammed’s Journey To Journalism Greatness

Hussein Mohammed did not have an easy start to his journalism career. When he finished university, he began looking for a job and was unemployed for some time. He sent out job applications to all the media houses he knew around Kenya and dreamed of working in one of Kenya’s big TV or radio stations.

While he was waiting for a reply after sending out job applications, Mohammed did not just sit at home doing nothing. Instead, he bought a DSLR camera and began covering events like weddings, burials, and other such events. This was easy for him to do because he also studied photography and loves taking pictures.

Eventually, he got an interview with Kenya Television Network (KTN) and actually passed. He worked with KTN for a while before moving on to other places.

He Joined Citizen TV In 2008

In 2008, Hussein Mohammed joined Citizen TV, one of the most popular TV stations in Kenya, which is owned by Royal Media Services. He was employed as a news anchor and show host. Mohammed hit the ground running and quickly got viewers intrigued with his anchoring skills, especially the way he grills guests with his interesting questions.

He soon teamed up with Janet Mbugua, a popular Kenyan media personality, anchor, and actress to host ‘The Big Question’, a popular show on Citizen TV that had lots of viewers. The show added to why people came to love Mohammed. He was known for his ability to ask the right questions and stir up his guests. He also presented the news with Janet Mbugua and the pair became very popular together.

Mohammed also read the news alone and hosted the popular Newsnight news bulletin. He also interviewed many important figures in Kenya, including top businessmen and politicians. His interview sessions were always anticipated because of the quality of questions he’s known to ask. In 2016, he thrilled viewers when he interviewed the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the Sunday live show. He also hosted the PM live show. It was clear that he had become a very important figure at Citizen TV and a popular figure around Kenya.

How Mohammed Built A Reputation As A No-Nonsense Anchor

At the height of his fame as an anchor at Citizen TV, Hussein Mohammed had built a reputation as a no-nonsense anchor who put his guests in uncomfortable positions during his interview. Mohammed conducted so many interviews and had many politicians and other famous people on the ropes with his tough questions when they came on his show as guests.

In July 2015, Hussein Mohammed interviewed Moses Kuria, a Kenyan member of Parliament during The Big Question Interview on Citizen TV. During the interview, Hussein Mohamed slammed Kuria with some really hard questions over his hate speech remarks that Kuria walked out of the interview. The incident caused a stir in Kenya.

In December 2016, Hussein Mohammed stunned TV viewers when he boldly cornered the Deputy President of Kenya, William Ruto with some hard-hitting questions ahead of the 2017 general election. The interview got many Kenyans talking with many hailing Mohamed’s no-nonsense approaches to conducting interviews.

Also, in September 2019, Hussein interviewed Ndindi Nyoro, another Kenyan Member of Parliament, and boldly asked the lawmaker some tough questions bothering on some misbehavior on the part of Nyoro. The interview was so intense that Nyoro appeared visibly angry. But Hussein would not relent in his questions.

There are many other instances when Hussein Mohammed had cornered popular figures during his interviews with his daring questions, forcing them to speak the truth and often leaving them redfaced. This made the TV anchor very popular among viewers of Citizen TV who always looked forward to watching Hussein Mohammed interview politicians.

Hussein Mohammed Shocked People With His Resignation After 10 Years

Mohammed worked at Citizen TV for ten years before he left the station. In October 2019, the TV anchor announced that he was leaving Royal Media Services. He made the announcement on Twitter, stunning his followers for whom he had become synonymous with Citizen TV. In his message, he explained that he was leaving to “concentrate on other matters”.

His announcement came as a shock to many people who never imagined him leaving the station. Even his colleagues were shocked by the move because he did not tell any of them about it before announcing it. As a matter of fact, even senior editors were not aware of the man’s decision to leave one of the biggest TV stations in Kenya and move on to other things.

His announcement caught them completely off-guard. It also left his followers and others wondering what was coming next for the man. However, even though his announcement came as a shock to the senior editors at the station, Hussein was given a chance to say goodbye to his viewers on TV. This is apparently because of the deep respect he had managed to build for himself at the media firm.

Also, a cake party was thrown for him by his colleagues after he did his last Newsnight show on Tuesday 30th October 2019. During this time, some of his colleagues and bosses showered him with praises and well-wishes and hailed his astounding exploits as a journalist who did everything within his power to bring excellence to the station.

What Is The Real Reason Mohammed Left Citizen TV?

When Hussein Mohammed announced that he was leaving Citizen TV, he explained that he was leaving to concentrate on other matters. However, following his exit, some reports began to claim that this was not the real reason why he left and that he was ‘forced out’ by some internal strife that the public did not know about. According to the report, Citizen TV always had people with smiling faces, however, behind those smiling faces were hidden boiling emotions that had built up over many months and eventually forced Mohammed out.

A November 2019 report claimed that problems started when a new set of employees were brought into Royal Media Services, the media powerhouse that owns Citizen TV. This new set of employees and the old set soon began a ‘cold war’ that made many people uncomfortable. It turned out that there was simmering bad blood between the ‘old’ and ‘new’ employees who clashed almost right from the onset.

According to the report, among the new employees were journalists who joined Royal Media Services between March and July 2018, including Editorial Director Joe Ageyo (who came in from KTN), Strategy Director Linus Kaikai (who came in from NTV), Yvonne Okwara (news anchor who came in from KTN) as well as a host of other journalists.

On the other hand, the old camp had journalists who had been working for RMS before 2018, including prominent figures like Lillian Muli, Jeff Koinange, Waihiga Mwaura, Willis Raburu, Francis Gachuri, Hussein Mohammed, among others. The old and the new set of employees did not kick off too smoothly and there were silent tensions between them. According to the reports, the new employees were seen as the ‘dream team’ that had been brought to take RMS to the next level. So, they apparently were a threat to the old professionals.

It was also claimed that the newcomers were being paid inordinately higher salaries because they had been headhunted from competing broadcast stations. Because of this situation, a very unequal salary scale was created at RMS and this left a really bad taste in the mouths of the old camp, especially because they felt they had one more than the dream team guys. The ego battles became so stiff that Hussein Mohammed began to look for other opportunities and soon left the company afterward.

These claims made the rounds in Kenya for some time and gained ground among social media followers of the famous Kenyan journalist. However, the man had neither denied nor confirmed the story.

What Is He Doing Now?

After he resigned from Citizen TV, Hussein Mohammed went quiet for some time and people didn’t know what was up with him. Eventually, in 2020, some information began to emerge about what the former Citizen TV anchor was doing. The revelation was made by Yussuf Ibrahim, a former KTN News anchor, and reporter.

According to Yussuf Ibrahim, Mohamed moved into consultancy after leaving Citizen TV and is now a part of a new project funded by the US government through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The project is called Resilience Learning Activity (RLA). Ibrahim revealed that he and Mohamed joined the project individually as consultants.

Ibrahim explained that he and Hussein Mohammed had their own media companies and that they are working on the RLA project with their respective companies. Mohammed owns a media company called Iris Media while Ibrahim owns a media company called Ubra Media. However, they are now making plans to partner for future projects. Their partnership is set to create a communication firm that will become a one-stop-shop for everything to do with communication.

Did He Join K24 TV?

In late 2020, rumors began to spread all over the place that Hussein Mohammed had joined K24 TV, a TV station in Kenya established in 2007. The rumors began to spread after Anne Kiguta, a Kenyan journalist, talk show host, and news anchor announced her resignation from the station. The rumors became very strong, especially because of the pedigree of the station which is considered one of the top media houses in Kenya. In fact, K24 TV was the first Kenyan television station to stream live on the internet, giving diaspora viewers a taste of real Kenyan stories told in real-time.

However, Hussein Mohammed himself soon quenched the rumors by addressing them. In December 2020, the former Citizen TV anchor took to his Twitter handle and asked people to treat the reports of him joining K24 TV as fake news. The media personality assured his many fans on social media that if he ever made a comeback to TV, he would personally make the announcement himself.

Hussein Mohammed Is A Married Man

Hussein Mohamed’s entire life is not just all about working and doing projects. The Kenyan journalist is also a family man who has a loving wife. According to reports, Hussein Mohamed is married to a woman called Malyun.

Because he is so silent on his private and family life, nothing was known about the woman in Mohamed’s life for a long time. It was not even clear if he was seeing anyone. Eventually, in 2014, reports emerged that he had gotten married to Malyun. The wedding was reportedly held in December 2014. The couple got married in a traditional Islamic ceremony called Nikkah at South C at the Masjid Nur.

At the moment, it is not clear if the couple has welcomed any child yet as this information has been carefully kept out of the spotlight.