Jotham Mghendi: Journalist with a passion for uplifting youth through boxing

When his father died in 2014, Jotham Mghendi almost went crazy.

It was the most difficult time of his life.

Mghendi had been looking at life through the lens of his camera, but the reality of his father’s death hit him in unexpected ways.

“I never imagined losing any of my parents. Death comes when you are not prepared and turns your world upside down. I looked lost,” he says.

Born on September 1, 1984, Mghendi schooled at Gome Primary School in Changamwe before joining Alidina Visram High School in 1999.

After his KCSE in 2002, a relative tried to convince him to pursue law in Tanzania where he had secured a slot.

“But I later changed my mind and decided to pursue journalism, which I had wanted for a long time,” Mghendi says.

“But law is still in my mind and I will still pursue it just the same way [Citizen TV editorial director] Linus Kaikai has,” the trained journalist says.

In 2004, he joined the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication to pursue a diploma in mass communication, majoring in TV production.

This is after he resisted his mother’s pressure to pursue a supply and procurement course at the then Mombasa Polytechnic, now the Technical University of Mombasa.

In 2007, he joined Ken TV, an online TV station, his first ever job.

“My first major assignment was the 2007 general elections. We were chased out of KICC when the results were about to be announced and I remember soon after, chaos started,” Mghendi says.

“It was spontaneous and suddenly there were no vehicles. I walked from KICC to South C before calling my boss to explain the situation.”

After the skirmishes in 2008, he relocated to Mombasa where he started producing music videos for performing artists.

He worked with artists such as Ali B, before volunteering to do production for a church in Magongo.

“There was a studio in Mwandoni called Magic Studios where I worked with different music artists. I also covered weddings,” Mghendi says.

He says life was difficult at the time, as his gigs did not pay well.

“At the same time, I was freelancing for the Kenya News Agency when the entity had many events but with limited personnel,” he says.

In 2010, Mghendi joined Daystar University to pursue a degree in public relations and communication.

The institution would then put him in a work-study programme.

“I worked in the university’s ICT department while in the programme. Here, I gained a lot of knowledge in ICT and this helped in my TV production work,” the journalist says.

He graduated from Daystar University in 2014 with a First Class Honours, being awarded for his community service as well as for his stint at the chaplaincy department where he conducted outreach programmes and helped the elderly.

This is the time his father fell sick and Mghendi had no one to attend his graduation ceremony.

“My dad was so sick. He was almost bed ridden and my mum had to take care of him. So nobody attended my graduation. It was devastating for my parents because they really wanted to be there,” he says.

His interest in boxing increased after the death of his father, as this was his way of dealing with grief.

 “I used my workouts as a way to deal with the trauma of losing my father, who was my mentor,” Mghendi says.

It is during one of the workout sessions that he met 15-year-old Mwinyifaki Kombo.

Kombo’s dedication to his workout routine and the fact that he liked boxing intrigued him.

“I was interested because at his age, he was supposed to be in school, but he was always at the gym working out and training for boxing. This pricked my mind,” Mghendi says.

After several workout sessions, he finally learnt that Kombo had given up hope on education.

He had completed his primary school but had no money to join secondary school because his parents were poor.

At that time youths in Magongo were involved in so many vices including drug abuse, juvenile crime and irresponsible sex.

To save Kombo, Mghendi decided to take him back to school.

 “Together with a few friends, we established the Bomu Boxing Club and Kombo was one of our first players,” he says.

We also approached Changamwe MP Omar Mwinyi who gave us bursary for four years.

Through Kombo, many youths became interested in boxing.

“The sport helped them to get out of some of the vices and instilled discipline in the players,” Mghendi says.

He says the intense training sessions do not give them time to idle around.

The initiative also earned some youths opportunities to train with professional clubs such as the Kenya Navy and KDF.

“I am happy to see their progress and as we speak, some are currently training professionally,” Mghendi says.

Bomu Boxing Club’s biggest challenge is money.

“Everything we do is from our pockets. Sometimes it is draining. Sometimes we have to forfeit some tournaments because we cannot raise the money required,” he says.

Mghendi has urged well-wishers to help sponsor the club as it has become a safe haven for many youths.