How Maina Kageni became Kenya's radio king

Piece by: MARY NG'AN'G'A

29 August 2022

• His journey to radio kicked off after he did a voice ove.r

• He started at Capital FM.

Maina Kageni is a voice and force to be reckoned with in the media industry, but where did it all start, you ask? Come along, let's begin.

The 'aky ya o' guy never wanted to be in radio. He defines being in radio as the biggest fluke ever. It all started with a voice-over for an upcoming event he was organizing.

Back story, when he came back from the UK, he ventured into showbiz and brought a couple of DJs from the UK to perform in the country.

Capital and Metro Fm were the only avenues he had to advertise the upcoming event.

Maina went to pay for the advertisements and while at it, he was asked whether he had Ksh40,000. An astonished Maina asked what the money was for, and he was told it was for the voiceover that would accompany the advertisement.

He asked whether he could do it since he didn't have the cash.

At significant risk, he was given the go-ahead. After he did his thing, the radio guru Phil Matthews asked him whether he had ever thought of doing Radio, and of course, Maina said No.

That was that until Phil Matthews called him a few days after the event and told him he was serious about the radio opportunity he had mentioned.

That's how Maina went to Capital FM for four months before progressing from sports announcer to swing shift presenter.

Dennis Gacheru who then worked with Nation called him up to host the evening show as they were launching their new radio station.

Later on, he got a call from Patrick Quarcoo, popular as PQ. They had a meet-up at Trattoria to discuss the job offer of him being the new Kiss Fm drive show host.

When Maina was asked about his salary he said he was currently getting Ksh180,000 yet he was earning Ksh60,000.

PQ made him an offer to double his 'salary.'

When he told his then boss at Nation, (Mr. Wilfred Kiboro), of the offer he had gotten, he told him he needed to go, since even some of the top managers were not being paid such figures.

On reporting to work at Kiss FM, he was given two months' gross salary upfront and was told to go and have fun and resume after a month. Sema Mombasa, Malindi Kushika!

Maina says hosting the Kiss Fm drive show gave him an opportunity to work with some amazing talents Kenya has produced e.g. Edward Kwach, Cess Mutungi, and Ciku Muiruri.

Later Classic 105 was launched and he got the morning show host slot. Though it was a new experience, as they say, the rest is history.

Maina chooses to keep his family life private for he is the one who chose the stage not them.