Stephen Mukangai is a familiar name to football fanatics across the country.
He is a celebrated football commentator who delivers exceptional game coverage live as they happen in various stadiums in the English Premier League and other top leagues.
He keeps football fans informed and entertained as they listen to him play around with words while anticipating his ‘go goo goooo goooo goooooaaaaaaaal!’ moment.
Being a top radio journalist at Radio Maisha doesn’t mean that Mukangai’s journey to the top was easy.
He had done all sorts of casual jobs before seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
So, how did Stephen become one of the most celebrated sports presenters in the country?
Stephen’s Background
Stephen was born in Malava, Kakamega, the 8th born in a family of 9.
He attended primary school in the village and later enrolled for secondary school education at Ingotse High School.
After high school, Mukangai embarked on a journey to Nairobi in 2008 for tertiary education.
He joined Multimedia University, formerly Kenya College of Communication Technology (KCCT), for a journalism course.
Mukangai’s stay in Nairobi was challenging as he couldn’t find decent jobs to finance his studies, forcing him to settle for menial jobs.
Even odd jobs were hard for him to find since he had to walk from Kibera to Gachie in Kiambu for manual tasks on construction sites, a job that earned him 700 every week, hardly enough for food, rent, and fees.
He also worked as a toilet cleaner.
Mukangai relocated from Kibera to Mlango Kubwa for easier access to the construction sites where he worked for 6 months.
Stephen Mukangai Arrival at Radio Maisha
Mukangai’s hand-to-mouth financial situation forced him to take a bold step that improved his life.
He woke up one morning and decided to make an impromptu visit to the Standard Group offices along Mombasa Road.
His mission was to meet Hassan Mwana Wa Ali and hopefully get a chance to showcase his presenting skills.
Unfortunately, the meeting never happened that day, but he left his number at reception.
After some days, Stephen received Hassan’s call and the meeting he had hoped for materialized.
At the time of the meeting, there was another aspiring presenter also hoping to find a radio job.
Hassan needed to pick one between Mukangai and the other candidate.
He subjected them to football trivia, and Mukangai emerged the winner after answering nine out of ten questions correctly, while the other one scored only three.
Hassan then invited Mukangai to co-host a football match between Ulinzi Stars and the Red Berets, and Mukangai was good.
At that point, Hassan Kauleni was convinced that Mukangai was ripe for the task ahead of him and recommended him to his boss.
That was the beginning of a colorful journalism career for Mukangai, who has amassed many followers on social media.
Mukangai has also been vital in improving Radio Maisha’s ratings.
He is famed for football commentating and sports segments like dozi dozi la premier league and zilizala viwanjani on KTN News.
Stephen Mukangai Salary
Given his popularity among football fans, Stephen is a valuable resource to Radio Maisha.
The management knows all too well that their ratings would dip if he got poached by another media house.
For that reason, Mukangai is reported to be earning between 300,000 and 400,000 per month.
You may also want to check: From Zero to Hero: A Look at Walter Kinjo’s Journey to Becoming a Renowned Radio Presenter
