How a maverick Kenyan journalist is turning the media on its head
Larry Madowo is the millennial maverick of Kenyan journalism
Madowo, who was part of a staff meeting organised by the company's management, is said to have started a war of words with NMG's bosses over independence and the media house's ability to protect its employees.
According to reports, he was agitated that the company had not taken any action to protect Justus Wanga - a Nation reporter who faced threats from Deputy President William Ruto's press secretary David Mugonyi over an article he did regarding a disagreement between President Kenyatta and Ruto over cabinet secretary slots.
Such is the story of a maverick media personality who is never afraid to speak his mind.
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First of his name
Larry Madowo, "first of his name", as he describes himself on Twitter, is one of Kenya's most celebrated broadcast journalists, leading conversations on politics and technology.
Kenyans love to hate him due to his devil may care attitude and the fact that his opinions are at times unpopular with the masses.
It is no surprise that the 30-year old has on occasions rubbed parts of his audience the wrong.
Miguna exchange
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A few months ago, Madowo banned former Nairobi Governor aspirant Miguna Miguna from attending his political TV show after the two sharply differed over the latter's remarks.
Madowo and Miguna failed to agree over a statement Miguna made that seemed to be a call to violence.
“For a revolution to take place, blood sometimes has to be involved,” Miguna said in part as he was issuing his final remarks.
When Madowo interjected, Miguna sharply responded that he had to be allowed to finish making his final remarks without being interrupted. This led to a heated exchange with Madowo asking the politician not to come back to his show before the talk show ended prematurely.
Matiang'i critic
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In his weekly newspaper column dubbed FrontRow, Madowo criticised Interior CS Fred Matiang'i's positive reputation in the public eye. He stated that the public’s admiration of Matiang’I had made it impossible to scrutinise his actions, alleging that the CS only accepted interviews with “friendly journalists”.
The article is reportedly said not to have pleased some powerful figures within the NMG boardroom.
Social media influence
Madowo's social media influence is immense especially on Twitter where he boasts of a following of close to 1.4 million followers. His opinion(s) tend to trigger a lot of interest among his followers and despite all the criticism he receives from the online community, Larry says he 'couldn't care less.'
His followers were left mystified by his recent move to take some time off social media as he quipped that he wants to live like a 'caveman'.
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"Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never break me," the tech enthusiast once stated in his column. Madowo is the millenial maverick Kenyans have for long loved to hate and it seems as though there is no stopping him anytime soon.
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