Business & Enterprise
Landmark
Samuel Kamau Macharia
born 1942
Founder of Royal Media Services and Citizen TV
Landmark is level 2 of 4 in the Kenya Hall of Fame: a first that opened a door, or the pre-eminent figure of their generation in this country. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
He travelled two months overland to Libya and took a ship to England because his family could not raise the airfare. He came back and built the largest private broadcaster in East Africa.
Samuel Kamau Macharia was born in Ndakaini village, Murang'a County, in 1942, and began working life as an untrained teacher on eight shillings a month.
Unable to afford the air ticket offered by the Kennedy airlift, he travelled overland to Libya and took a ship to England, where he took degrees in political science and accounting and qualified as a certified public accountant. In 1976 he founded Madhupaper, Kenya's first local tissue manufacturer, selling it in 1989. He then founded Royal Media Services, which owns Citizen TV — the most-watched channel in Kenya — and more than a dozen radio stations broadcasting in Kenyan languages.
Unable to afford the air ticket offered by the Kennedy airlift, he travelled overland to Libya and took a ship to England, where he took degrees in political science and accounting and qualified as a certified public accountant. In 1976 he founded Madhupaper, Kenya's first local tissue manufacturer, selling it in 1989. He then founded Royal Media Services, which owns Citizen TV — the most-watched channel in Kenya — and more than a dozen radio stations broadcasting in Kenyan languages.
- Wikipedia — Samuel Kamau Macharia
- Kenyans.co.ke — How SK Macharia fought Moi and built Citizen TV and Royal Media Services
Spotted something wrong? Tell us and we will check it.