Renowned investigative journalist Franklin Wallah has left Mediamax Network Limited (K24) to join the Standard Media Group (SG).

A source close to Mediamax confirmed this to The Kenya Times hours after Wallah officially announced his exit from K24.

In a statement on his social media accounts, Wallah said he has left K24 and thanked Mediamax and his former colleagues in the investigative department.

“Habari za jioni, Wanasema mtoto akianzà kutamba ndio mwanzo wa safari. Kwa kifupi, naomba kuwajulisha nimeiaga runinga ya K24 TV kwaheri. Naushukuru usimamizi wa kituo, tuliofanya nao kazi na mashabiki wote, walionithamini nilipohudumu kwa kitengo Cha Upekuzi,” he wrote.

This loosely translates to “Good evening, they say a child’s first steps mark the beginning of a journey. In short, I would like to inform you that I have bid farewell to K24 TV television. I am grateful to the station management, with whom I worked, and to all the fans who appreciated me when I served in the Investigative Department.”

Standard Group Offer to Wallah

The Source confided to The Kenya Times news desk that Wallah had been pursued by the management for the last six months to join the Mombasa Road-based media house.

He previously had a stint at SG from 2019 to 2021 where he worked as a crime and investigative journalist before going back to K24 Tv in the same capacity.

After months of negotiations and contact between the two parties, the journalist finally accepted the job offer to complete his switch to the Mombasa Road-based media company.

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Citizen TV Move

Amid the ongoing negotiations, speculations about his possible move to Citizen TV were rife with some sources indicating that he was poised to replace Hassan Mugambi who left earlier in the year.

Comments from his Facebook post suggested the same as a section of his fans congratulated him and asked Citizen TV to consider the journalist as Mugambi’s replacement.

“We understand Citizen also contacted the journalist for a possible negotiation, but it is not yet clear what is next for the young and ambitious crime reporter,” the Source said.

K24 Offer to Retain the Journalist

Other sources at K24 said Wallah was offered a counteroffer by the management, but the journalist declined citing personal reasons.

According to our source, some of his colleagues also posted about him joining former Citizen TV journalist Francis Gachuri at the Ministry of Interior.

TV47 was seen as a possible destination

TV47 was also seen as an option for the youthful journalist coming at a time when the Cape Media-owned station has positioned itself as a destination for young talents in Kenya’s journalism space.

The station is also seeking to establish a crimes and investigation unit to churn out impactful crime content for its brands like TV47, Radio 47 and TV47 Digital.

Wallah Journalism Career

Wallah has been at the core of crime and investigative journalism since 2016 when he was at the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) as a trainee.

He would later join K24 in 2016 where he worked until 2019 before crossing over to KTN for a stint that lasted until 2021. After two years at Standard Group, he returned to K24 until his recent exit in 2024.

The journalist is known for breaking real time and verifiable crime stories among them exposes.

He recently exposed how murders took place in Airbnb by being the first journalist to expose socialite Starlet Wahu’s murder in a detailed CCTV report.

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He is known for other impactful stories among them MAUAJI Ya Wambui, Yala Killings, Teen Sex Parties, Giza la Gaza, and Kisirani Kisauni among others.

Wallah has covered stories in Somalia, South Sudan, and DRC and has been to several conflict zones as part of his career.

The Daystar graduate also has basic training in crime and investigations from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) academy and over eight years of experience.

Role at K24

While at K24, he headed the crimes and investigation desk where he produced several key stories that promoted K24 brand. 

Wallah’s departure form K24 comes two weeks after he announced that he will be going off screen for some time.