Activist Boniface Mwangi walks out of live TV interview after MP Moses Kuria walks in

Activist Boniface Mwangi staged a dramatic exit from Jeff Koinange’s Wednesday night show on KTN, just moments after Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria made a “surprise” visit to the Jeff Koinange Live set.

Mwangi had come on the show to discuss graft in the Jubilee administration in the wake of the Afya House Scandal, but 17 minutes into the interview, Kuria walked in.

Koinange laughed off the ‘sudden’ interruption saying, “Look who just showed up! Everybody shows up in this show…”

Mwangi, clearly blindsided by the arrival of the MP, muttered “…is this a joke?”

In the video, that has now gone viral, Mwangi rises from the bench, saying: “…and this is the time for me to walk out.”

Realising that things were getting out of hand, Koinange tried to persuade the Pawa 254 founder to stay, saying: “Boniface, you can’t walk out…”

Unmoved by Koinange’s placation, the incensed activist said: “You invited me to have a discussion and I’m done with my discussion…”

“But we just can’t have a one-sided discussion, Boniface… ,” the TV host interjected.

The outspoken activist went on to claim that the talk show host had ambushed him by inviting Kuria to join him on the bench.

“You invited me and told me to come alone. No you can’t lie…You lied to me. This man has been accused of hate speech…and he can talk about it [hate speech accusations] by himself,” Mwangi said as he walked out.

His walk out – which was reminiscent of Moses Kuria’s stunt when he was quizzed by Citizen TV’s Hussein Mohammed over his panga remarks – shot to the top of Twitter trends, attracting mixed reactions.

The activist, who has been critical of graft in the Jubilee administration, which the Gatundu MP is stern supporter of, went on to explain why he decided to storm out of the interview.

“When Jeff Koinange invited me to his show I asked, ‘Who am I going to be with?’. He told me Dennis Itumbi, and I declined the invite. I didn’t want to waste my time with a spin doctor who is allergic to the truth.After a short while Jeff got in touch and told me he will host me alone,” he posted on his official social media account.

“KTN produced a poster for the show that circulated online of Jeff and I. Jeff tweeted several times about the show and there was no mention of another person. The show started well and we had barely warmed the bench when Jeff pulled a fast one on me,” he wrote further.

Mwangi, who won the 2008 CNN Multichoice African Photojournalist of The Year for his coverage of the 2007/2008 post-poll violence, explained that he walked out as a matter of principle.

“As a photographer I witnessed firsthand what hate mongering can do during the post-election violence of 2007-2008, which led to the deaths of over 1300 people. Kuria is in court for hate remarks…My values wouldn’t allow me to share a platform with Kuria…My values are more important than TV airtime.”

Kuria, who proceeded with the interview after Mwangi’s exit, has since stated that he was an “uninvited guest” on the show.