Ben Mutua Jonathan Muriithi

BMJ (Ben Mutua Jonathan) Muriithi (born Jonathan Nyaga on May 4, 1969) is a Kenyan writer, Radio Presenter, stringer and actor based in the United States. He is currently the Regional Western Hemisphere International Correspondent for the Swahili Service of Voice of America, a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. Government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors. He is also a regional reporter for Kenya's Nation Television (NTV), one of Kenya's mainstream television Stations.

Biography

He was born in Kanyuambora, Embu district, Eastern province, Kenya . Son of Kenyan Small scale farmers Sospeter Kironji Gideon and Jane Igoki Kironji, he rose from a relatively modest family background to head one of the most popular drama clubs in Kenya, the Mt. Kenya Theatrix.

Early life, School and career

Mureithi and his late brother, Stephen Njagi Kironji started acting in their village church at a very young age. He later joined Kangaru School, Embu, Kenya, from where he graduated with a High School Diploma in 1986. In 1988, Muriithi dropped out of school before he could sit his 'A' level exams in a private School in Thika, Kenya. In 1990, he trained as a registration officer at Kenya Institute of Surveying and Mapping (KISM) in Ruaraka, Kenya after which the government of Kenya hired him as a Registration Assistant. He later enrolled for a certificate course in acting and Photojournalism at Haraldvangen Institute in Norway, graduating in 1992. Upon his graduation, he featured prominently in Kenyan Radio, Television and stage productions, culminating in being appointed the Executive Chairman of Mt. Kenya Theatrix Club in 1995. Some of the productions he featured in included Athol Fugard's Sizwe Bansi Is Dead; Joseph Murungu's So Sweet a Bite; and a few of Kenyatta University's Professor Francis Imbuga's published works. During his days in Nairobi, he featured in some high profile TV commercials, including one by then Celtel (later Zain and now 'Airtell'), one of Africa's leading telecommunication companies.

Artistic activity

Although he may not be in the league of Kenya's top actors like Paul Onsongo, John Sibi-Okumu or Njeri Osaak, Muriithi has nevertheless contributed immensely to the Kenyan media and theater scene. Earlier in his career, he traversed the country with members of Mt. Kenya Theatrix, sensitizing people on the dangers of HIV/AIDS through Community Theater under the auspicies of Plan International, a non-governmental humanitarian organization famed for its social empowerment programs. During his High School days, he was named the entertainer of the year - class of 1986 - for his wit and humor in his weekend stand-up comedies.

Muriithi produced and presented the arts segment of John Obong'o Jr.'s Kenya Beat, a popular Kenyan radio program aired on Monday mornings. He was also a co-presenter of Dunia Wiki hii, a news roundup program produced by Kenya's renowned radio personality, Hamisi Themor. Besides his duties at KBC, Muriithi produced and presented "Biashara Ndogondogo", a popular radio program aired on Saturdays by Nairobi based Nation Radio, which is owned by Nation Media Group. While working with the media houses, he simultaneously served as a registration assistant with Kenya's department of lands in both Embu and Nairobi. In 2002, he moved to Georgia, USA where he is currently studying Communication and International Relations at Atlanta Metro College. He is a correspondent and News editor with a US based Kenyan Newspaper, Kenya Empowerment Newspaper. He is also a Syndicated correspondent with Kenya Broadcasting Corporation and a reporter for Minneapolis-based Mshale Newspaper. Before leaving Kenya, he sat on the provincial adjudication board for Kenya Schools and Colleges Drama Festival. Mureithi is married to Edith N. Muriithi who is a Medical Assistant and a student at Georgia Perimeter College. His daughter, Carole Wawira Muriithi (born September 4, 1992) is currently a High School student in Hanoi, Vietnam, in which city her mother, Fiona Clare, works for CARE International.

In September 2009, he was contracted by Voice of America (VOA) as a regional stringer. In mid 2010. Nation Media house hired him as a regional reporter on contact basis.

In 2007, he was among the first journalists to shed light on the departure of CNN's Africa Bureau Chief, Jeff Koinange, from the giant media organization. On November 23, 2008, his article, 'An Africa to-do list for Obama' was published in Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the main Newspaper in the State of Georgia, USA. The same was later published by The Washington Post, the oldest DC newspaper with the largest circulation in the City.

Activism

In the early 1990s, Muriithi teamed up with fellow thespians, including Packson Ngugi and a group of activists led by firebrand Kenyan politician and now Cabinet Minister James Orengo, to protest the government's intention to sell the Kenya National Theatre building to the adjacent Norfolk Hotel against the wishes of the artists. The idea was consequently shelved.

In October 2009, Muriithi received an award from Kenya's ambassador to the U.S. for what the Kenyan Embassy in Washington DC termed "his Professional support and cooperation with the Embassy". It was presented amid pomp and color at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia by HE. Peter Ogego, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.

Ben Mutua Jonathan Muriithi

Biography

Early life, School and career

Artistic activity

Activism

References

See also