Veteran Kenyan journalist Catherine Kasavuli has passed away after battling cervical cancer for a while.
The KBC news anchor had been hospitalized at the Kenyatta National Hospital.
“Kasavuli passed on yesterday night. Her death related to the cancer ailment that she’s been bravely fighting in the recent past,”Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) Managing Director Maina told the media.
Kasavuli made public her illness on November 7, appealing for a blood donation.
Kasavuli, who holds the title of Kenya’s first female anchor, had a spectacular 30-year career. She started out as a continuity announcer at KBC in 1980.
In 1982 she enrolled at the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC) where she polished her journalistic skills before being poached by KTN, as an anchor, in 1990.
She worked at the Standard Media owned Tv station until 2007 when she joined the Royal Media Services (RMS) as a news anchor and corporate affairs manager.
In 2008 Kasavuli was given the Order of the Grand Warrior(OGW) Presidential Award by the late former President Mwai Kibaki.
In 2021 the veteran news anchor made a comeback to KBC as an anchor eight years after retiring.
Kasavuli was inducted into the Lifetime Achievement award on May 6, 2022, for her exceptional career spanning several decades and her influence in the evolution of journalism and media in Kenya.
