Your morning cup of tea by multi-talented media personality Shiko Kaitany

From script writing to hosting TV shows and even farming, multi-talented media personality SHIKO KAITTANY commands a massive following both on K24’s ‘Alfajiri’ breakfast show and online. Her cousin VANESA ADAM lets us in on her life and career

Growing up, Shiko Kaittany always wanted to become a media personality and when she completed her secondary education at Consolata School, her eyes were firmly on her goal.

She joined Africa Nazarene University to pursue a course in Communication and later pursued a degree in Journalism at the United States International University. 

“Shiko was always hard working and ambitious since her days at the Consolata School and always had her eyes set on working in the media.

To harness her talent, she used to host Karaoke events and in 2007, she hosted the Mr and Miss USIU pageant,” says her maternal cousin Vanesa Adam.

Youngest personality

The 33-year-old lastborn in a family of four began her media career at Kameme FM in 2006 when she hosted an East African Contemporary weekly countdown.

Shiko was the youngest on-air personality on the vernacular station at the time.

In 2009, Shiko joined the Royal Media as a radio presenter hosting the mid morning segment on Hot 96 until June 2011 when she left radio to pursue television.

She rose to fame in 2012 as the face of the hit game show Tazama Chapaa on Citizen TV. 

While at Citizen, Shiko was not only a television host, but an entertainment reporter contributing interesting stories to Citizen News bulletins and covering key events such as reality-singing competition, Tusker Project Fame (TPF) and Sakata dance show finals.

She also hosted Tujuane Dating Show, Rescue My Business on NTV and The Kisima Music Awards.

Resilience and discipline

Shiko’s persistence, energy and delivery during public events soon had people sitting up and taking notice.

Her biggest emceeing events include Act Now for Climate Justice at Uhuru Park and the one-year anniversary of VLCC Beauty Centre. Both took place in 2015.

However, life in the limelight has not been a walk in the park for the mother of one. Shiko has experienced her fair share of challenges, but has not been discouraged to pursue her calling in broadcast media.

Being a spiritual person, praying and talking about her difficulties to her loved ones helps Shiko regain her self-control.

“Shiko is a loving and warm person and does not take matters personally when ill-treated.

She lives her mantra, YOLO (You Only Live Once). She constantly reviews things that did not work out after experiencing a problem and strives to do better.

Do-It-Yourself (DIY) projects are a great way for her to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

Shiko is a creative person and her hobbies include crafting particularly for home improvement purposes and farming.

She also likes going to the gym, watching movies and is a nature and wildlife enthusiast,” said Adam.

Having also worked as a voice artist, voicing documentaries and commercials for brands such as NIVEA, Telkom Kenya, Coke and Samsung, Shiko’s personal core values such as discipline, patience and respect have shaped her into the woman she is and have pushed her to the heights of excellence. 

Despite the many challenges she has faced in life, resilience in the face of adversity defines her character.

Shiko’s greatest strength is people skills and she is involved in charity work and often attends motivational workshops to inspire people and help them become more personable so that they will be able to contribute to society cohesively.

“She believes the more personable an individual is, the better the person is able to contribute as a cohesive member of the society and the more honest and dedicated an individual is in whatever the person sets out to do, the less likely the individual will give up on a project halfway through its completion,” said Adam.

Shiko emcees in corporate events and weddings and looks up to fellow media personalities such as Julie Gichuru, Robert Burale and Janet Mbugua Ndichu.

She admires the passion they all have for their work particularly when it comes to public speaking and how they connect with their audiences both online and one on one. Shiko hopes to be as great as they are in future.