By Peter Ochieng
The cause of death of NTV journalist Rita Tinina has been revealed.
The veteran TV journalist was found dead on Sunday in her Kileleshwa house, in Nairobi.
According to the results of an autopsy conducted on Tuesday, she died of severe pneumonia.
Family spokesperson Timothy Njaga, addressing the press at Umash Funeral Home said they are satisfied with the postmortem results.
It was conducted by Peter Ndegwa, government pathologist and another one fronted by the family.
“We had come here to witness the postmortem and it was completed by Dr Ndegwa and the family pathologist. We have been given the results that the late Rita died of severe pneumonia,” noted Njaga.
“We should remember that there is a family that is affected. We thank the media fraternity for their good words towards our sister and friend.”
Her death was announced by her boss, Nation Media Group (NMG) Editor-in-Chief, Joe Ageyo.
Ageyo said he first crossed paths with Rita over 20-years ago, before striking a working partnership at NTV, KTN and then at NTV.
Ageyo revealed that she was to make her on air debut this week, since rejoining NTV in October, 2023.
“In spite of her impressive professional achievements and profile, Rita kept her feet firmly on the ground, and her life free of drama. She took every new task with greater enthusiasm than the previous one,” Ageyo said.
“She mentored younger journalists with a gentle nudge and expressed her displeasure with a smile. She eschewed office politics and delivered on her tasks with purpose and dignity.”
“Rita called me Onditi – that middle name I rarely use and I called her ‘Masai’, with a deliberately heavy Luo accent and we’d both have a good laugh. That time she probably wanted to take a few days off work and needed to convince me that I would miss nothing in her absence. By then, she would have planned, shot and edited enough stories to cover the entire period of her break,” he added.
She is survived by a daughter. Burial arrangements are ongoing.