Veteran Journalist Lolani Kalu has announced the return of the ‘Malimwengu’ show as he makes a comeback into the media scene.
Speaking exclusively to The Kenya Times, Lolani said that the move was informed by his fresh exploration of new media, adding that episodes of the show will air on YouTube.
Further, Lolani explained that he was unable to keep up with the new media because of the sudden introduction of digital technology in journalism. However, the veteran journalist said that he was constantly learning to keep up with the curve and pursue his passion.
“I will be doing ‘Malimwengu’, but it is hosted on my social platforms, talking about current affairs, culture and different stories about the lives of the people. I will also be doing a bit of comedy,” he said.
Despite his fame for his feature stories at NTV, Lolani Kalu disappeared from the public scene for close to a decade.
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Lolani Narrates Life After NTV
In the interview, Lolani recounted the good times he had during his days at NTV noting that he travelled many parts of the country enjoying his work and earning a good sum from it.
“I loved working at NTV. We travelled the whole country, moved from Nairobi to Mandera by road among other road trips. I remember working with incredible journalists like Rita Tinina and Robert Nagila,” he said excited.
Sadly, he lost his job at the station after being declared redundant. His attempts to venture into business failed in what he said could have been an indicator of the lack of the entrepreneurial skills.
Amid the difficult times, he struggled to fend for his family and himself and ended up in a desperate situation. Ultimately, he felt lost.
“I was retrenched. I think age caught up with me and young people with energy who could be sent to even further places joined the team. At the time, Nation was undergoing restructuring, and I was among the people who received letters.”
“After that, life was very difficult because I was jobless at an early age, I had no salary, and it was difficult to find myself. I was involved in some deals that did not go well,” he said.
In addition, he recalled that many well-wishers and fans sympathized with him and decided to make contributions to boost his financial situation.
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The veteran journalist regretted not being able to successfully set up a business explaining that he established many failing ventures including production studios and content creation.
“I did not get into any business that would put food on my table. Because my passion is in production, I tried setting up some studios, but it did not bring in much money. There were high expectations because my kids were going to school, and I needed to pay rent.
“Some fans looked for me and made contributions to help me buy a camera. However, I made the mistake of buying a camera that I could not operate well because I was still used to the old school equipment. I then opened a studio in Mombasa, but people did not have money to come and record so I was not making much money,” he explained.
Dusting Himself and Getting Back to Business
Years after struggling and failing in his attempts to step back into his light, Lolani auditioned for several Kenyan film productions and got an opportunity to work with ‘Pete’, which was screened on Maisha Magic East.
Later, he joined with the got an opportunity to work with ‘Sultana’, which was also a hit Kenyan film.
“After a while I got an opportunity to work in productions including ‘Pete’ the Kenyan film where I was an actor, later I also acted in Sultana.
“Being a journalist in the Artificial Intelligence era is challenging because everything that would take many professionals to execute can easily be done by machines. I have lived in both the old school and new world.
His advice to other journalists, ‘do not let the world pass you buy, change with it and morph.’