Catherine Kasavuli's biography: early life, career, family, awards

When the last lump of soil went in to cover Catherine Kasavuli’s casket at her Zululu home in Vihiga county on Saturday, January 14, 2023, the curtains finally closed on a woman whose legacy will live on forever.

With a career that spanned over 40 years, Kasavuli will be remembered as a woman who set the pace for other women in the media space.

Early Life

Catherine Kasavuli was born and bred in Nairobi West to a family of three other girls, she went to Ngara Girls High School where she completed her secondary education.

Her journey in the media began in 1980 as a radio continuity announcer when an uncle who listened to her reading the Bible and praying for dinner told her to go for it.

Late newscaster Catherine Kasavuli Late newscaster Catherine Kasavuli Pulse Live Kenya

One year later Kasavuli welcomed her first and only child Martin Kasavuli. With no media training before, Kasavuli joined the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC) where she fine-tuned her skills in front of the camera.

After leaving KIMC Catherine joined KTN, the first privately owned TV station in Kenya to go on air in March 1990.

Career Life

She became the station's first anchor to go on live broadcast, a shift from the previous pre-recorded format, besides anchoring news, Kasavuli also voiced commercials.

Kasavuli left KTN after 17 years to join Citizen TV in 2007 as a news anchor. At Citizen TV Kasavuli anchored news alongside Michael Njenga and Tom Mboya.

At Citizen TV Kasavuli rose through the ranks to become the corporate affairs manager until she retired in 2015.

Legendary TV news anchor, Catherine Kasavuli Pulse Live Kenya

After her retirement, Kasavuli started an independent media company dubbed Kasavuli Media Group where she trained young talents looking to join the media industry.

In 2021, Kasavuli made a TV comeback on TV screens on the state broadcaster through what was dubbed as the 'Legends Edition'.

Family

Kasavuli had one son, Martin Kasavuli. In a previous interview, she said she sometimes carried her son to work as she had no one to leave him home with.