• Former Citizen TV news anchor started his own station but it collapsed
• He recounted how he had invested his money
Image: Elizabeth Ngigi
Media personality and businessman Johnson Mwakazi says his lowest moment in life was when WTV (Wholesome TV) was shut down.
Mwakazi had been working there as the CEO after he quit a job at Citizen TV, where he was the news anchor and Morning Breakfast Show host. "I started a TV station and after three years it didn't work out," Mwakazi told Word Is on Tuesday.
"I remember there were families depending on it as their source of daily bread, and to call them and tell them we are closing down and that we would be releasing some of them was the lowest moment in my entire life."
He recounted how he had invested his money, every morning coming early and leaving late.
"Sometimes I meet them, I'm glad some have jobs, but when I look back, if only I had the option, I would have given them. I would have wanted to have more people employed there," he said.
Today, Mwakazi runs his company, called the Royal Voice.
"Nowadays, I tell myself that maybe this is where I will feed more people and generations to come," he said.
Mwakazi also opened about his battle with pornography addiction, saying he was introduced to the vice by a friend.
"I realised how influence can work. It wrecked my life but I thank this pastor who came and introduced me to faith, and I realised there is something bigger. I wish someone would have told me before," he said.
A lot of people who are into drugs, he said, were maybe introduced to it, and now they can't come out of it. He urged parents not to wait until their children are introduced to things they don't know by strangers. "Be open to these issues and really speak about your stand," Mwakazi said.
He says every time he watched porn, he felt some guilt. "That guilt is part of the change because it does not just stop by saying I am stopping. It does not work like that, but you have to pick yourself up," he said.
Mwakazi admitted the addiction has affected his social life. "In many ways, I am very particular about what I want. If I am talking to a lady and they are not well dressed, it does something to my mind because I am trying to battle with how they look and so, I end up not engaging so much with them," he said.
"Even if it is business, it can't work, although their conscience may be clean," he said.
Sometimes he even changed meeting places or limited their conversation.
"I try to fight it as much as possible because it is a lifelong battle," he said.