Badi Muhsin Biography Death , Education, Background, Career, Awards, Family
Hello, welcome to Spicefy, here you get simplified, organized, and comprehensive information. Am your host, Rifie. Join me on this journey as I dive in the story of the Rise of late veteran broadcast journalist, Badi Muhsin, during his childhood, he had a dream, the dream was for his face to be on television. Not long after his secondary school, he got a job in broadcast journalism with the oldest broadcaster in Kenya, KBC a career that spanned over 4 decades. In this story, we have a look at his background education, career journey and more information that you will find inspiring.
Background
Badi Muhsin was one of the longest Swahili news anchors in Kenya having worked for the oldest radio and TV station, the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, for over four decades. At some point he combined his broadcasting work with that of a public relations officer at the Kuwaiti Embassy in Kenya.
Badi Muhsin Biography Video
Badi Muhsin was Born in 1954 to a strict Muslim family in Kitui County, Badi was the first born in the family of eight children. His parents were from Mombasa, which explains his fluency and proficiency in the Swahili language. His father passed away when he was still quite young and his mother about 14 years ago.
***
Badi excelled in drama while in school and played leading roles in various school performances and also represented his school at drama festivals. He was so good and confident at public speaking that he was assigned the role of making announcements during school events.
He was also a good writer and wrote several articles for Baraza, a weekly Swahili newspaper. His late uncle, Omar Chambati, who was at the time a news editor at Taifa Leo newspaper was instrumental in inspiring young Badi to a career in the media. Badi’s biggest dream at this time was that one day his face would be on television and he thanks God for making his dream a reality.
***
Career
After high school, he attended a number of events and acted as a sort of host. It was in one of such events that he was spotted by the then member of parliament Daniel Mutinda. He urged him to try out for Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, which was still Voice of Kenya at the time.
Badi performed well in the interview and was employed as a Swahili translator in 1980. The job involved translating materials from English to Swahili.
After five years, he was promoted to supervisor. He would later get the chance to present the sports news segment Michezo. Being a fan of sports, he enjoyed this and would collect various sports materials for radio.
The revered journalist would later be assigned to present Swahili news highlights on radio, Mukhtasari wa Habari. After doing an impressive job, he was chosen to present the 9:00a.m. news, followed by the 4a.m. news. He was later moved to prime-time news at 1a.m, 7p.m and 9a.m.
In 1989, his dream came into reality as he was transferred from radio to TV. He was ecstatic with the opportunity and he would urge friends and family to switch on the TV. His mother was his biggest fan.
The veteran journalist once said in an interview that he would never forget the late Mohamed Juma Njuguna. He was great source of encouragement to Badi as he pushed him to be a better anchor.
In 1990, he left KBC and Joined Swahili Leo, a publication by Kenya Times. He worked there as a sports and news reporter.
In 1993, he joined the Kuwaiti Embassy and worked as an information officer. Shortly, he got the chance to go back to KBC as a Swahili TV presenter once again. His Kuwaiti Embassy employers were generous enough to allow him work part time for KBC.
Later he was promoted to public relations at the embassy. He thus became a link between the Kenyan government and Kuwaiti Embassy.
Later he was promoted to public relations at the embassy. He thus became a link between the Kenyan government and Kuwaiti Embassy.
He left KBC once more in 2002 and returned in 2020 to work as a TV presenter once more. Until his demise, he was the host of Dira ya Magwiji na Badi Muhsin, a weekly show on KBC tv.
***
Memorable Moments:
His most memorable moment in his career was being the first to announce the judgment of the controversial burial case of lawyer S.M. Otieno in 1987. Silvanus Melea Otieno, was a leading criminal lawyer in Nairobi whose death and burial gave rise to a significant legal controversy regarding the tension between customary and common law in Kenya.
***
The veteran broadcaster believed confidence was the key to every situation. At one time, Badi forget to switch off his cell phone and it rang while he was reading the news. Unable to ignore it, he picked the phone and without even checking who the caller was said hello followed by ‘the price of flour and kerosene would remain the same’ (it was budget day), switched it off and apologized to the viewers. Everyone in the studio laughed and he hoped the viewers also had a laugh. “Creativity in handling different situations is very important,”.
Awards and Recognition
In 1993, he was the first runner-up for best Kiswahili translator award in KBC.
In 2010, he was recognized by the famed Swahili author Wallah Bin Wallah as one of the best Kiswahili news anchors.
Subsequently, in 2011, Badi was presented with the Order of the Grand Warrior (O.G.W) award by retired president Mwai Kibaki for his long service in the Kenyan media.
Family Life
In July 1980, he married Khadija. She too was from Kitui and grew up in a strict Muslim background. They have two sons, Jamal and Jamil, who are currently in their late 30s. Jamal works with the Kenya Red Cross, while Jamil works with DHL in Bahrain.
He believed he has raised them with discipline in the proper Muslim way and was proud of how they had turned out.
Being the eldest in his family, Badi had to lead by example and was a role model to his younger siblings. He was also part of a group of elders in Eastleigh’s Biafra area who instill values like discipline, honesty and integrity in the youth, in addition to urging them to refrain from crime and terrorist activities. His life and work aspired, encouraged and motivated young people.
***
Cause of Death
The legend passed away on Friday, 8th October 2021 in his sleep. His family said the journalist had complained of a stomach problem shortly after eating lunch and went to bed but never woke up.
***
END
