State House Press Secretary Emmanuel Talam has recounted a time he thought he would marry the late NTV journalist Rita Tinina during their college days.
Talam was speaking during the burial ceremony of the late Tinina on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, in Narok County where he eulogized her as a professional journalist.
While revealing that he met Rita back in college, Talam said that he thought she was going to be his future wife immediately when he saw her for the first time at the Kenya Institute Mass Communication (KIMC).
“When Rita came to the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC) the same day as me, I thought she was going to be my wife,” he said as the crowd including Tinina’s husband Robert Nagila burst into laughter.
According to him, Tinina’s beauty, brown face and Maasai origin made him imagine that he had indeed found a wife, which was the start of his advances towards her.
However, the PCS Press Secretary revealed that his advances were dealt a blow when one day Rita told him that his expectations had crossed the line.
Also Read: Police Report Reveals Rita Tinina’s Last Moments Before Death
“When she saw that I had become too much, one day she told me: young man not that fast. You’ll get another wife let’s first study,” he added.
Talam mourns Rita Tinina
In his condolence message, he also mourned Rita as a special person adding that he had been waiting to hear someone saying something negative about the deceased in all tributes and messages.
Remembering Rita as an amazing person, he reminisced the days they used to work together at Standard Group for KTN and described her as the humblest reporter he has worked with.
Also Read: Robert Nagila: Meet Rita Tinina’s Partner Who Described Her as ‘Most Stubborn’
“The young news producers and even the senior ones as you know producing the 1pm news is a difficult task. Nowadays reporters have pride you tell them you want a story they tell you to look for an intern, I’m working on 9pm stories. Rita is the kind of person you would tell you want three stories for one o’clock and she would provide a package. She would never say a story is small,” he revealed.
He praised Tinina’s ability to remain as a professional journalist saying that it was difficult to know which political affiliation she supported.
Talam further read President William Ruto’s message of condolence to the gathering and highlighted that the Head of State had once enquired about her whereabouts during the campaign period, but they informed him that she had gone back to work as a news producer for NTV.
The late Rita Tinina Yiapan was laid to rest on March 27, following her sudden death on March 17, 2024, which a postmortem report revealed was caused by severe pneumonia.
