Willy M Tuva is arguably one of the most celebrated and renowned media personalities in Kenya and the East African region.
His shows Mambo Mseto on Radio Citizen and Mseto East Africa on Citizen TV are among the biggest if not the biggest entertainment shows in Kenya and the EA region.
The shows explore and give airtime to musicians and songs from the East African region; Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and Rwanda.
Tuva is often called "Mzazi Willy M. Tuva" in reference to the opportunities he has offered to musicians and the talents he has nurtured and help promote. Though he enjoys a lot of fame and success from his shows, his rise to the top was not a walk in the park.
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File image of Mzazi Willy M. Tuva. |Photo| Courtesy|
During an interview with a local daily in 2020, Tuva revealed that he was rejected on several occasions before finding the person who offered him an opportunity.
He revealed that he had the idea of Mambo Mseto long before he set foot in the media, but he was turned back on several occasions when he knocked on doors of media houses to pitch the show.
The award-winning television personality stated that at the time, many local artist such as Nameless, Redsan, produced a lot of quality songs but did not get sufficient airtime.
He created Mambo Mseto, initially as a show that would focus on promoting local music.
"I was always a very good artist and I used to draw cartoons for various publications including Taifa Leo and NOW magazine so I did that as a side hustle but broadcasting was always my dream.
"I knocked on the doors of so many radio stations but they despised me. They never gave me a chance.
"They'd give me appointments and kept telling me to come tomorrow. But I never gave up," Tuva recounted.
His first real opportunity came when Jacob Mogoa, who hosted a health show on KBC gave him fifteen minutes within his show.
"He chose me because I knew things about health and fitness and that is what the show dealt with. But those fifteen minutes, I would always play East African music," he revealed.
When Radio Citizen was rebranding to Swahili, veteran presenter Vincent Ateya, contacted Tuva and offered him a slot for the show. He had heard Tuva during one of his segments on Mogoa's show.
Tuva credits Ateya with the success he has since achieved in the media industry.
"There's one guy who made me be on Radio Citizen. He is called Vincent Ateya.
"When he heard Citizen were relaunching to a Kiswahili station and looking for people who can speak fluent Swahili he remembered hearing me recording at KBC and recommended me," he disclosed.
Mambo Mseto rapidly gained popularity among listeners and became arguably the best music show in the country. This prompted Tuva to contemplate new ideas.
That is when he kicked off, Mseto East Africa, a music-centred television show.
With the help of Fred Afune, one of the directors at Royal Media Services, Tuva grew Mseto East Africa to the success it is currently.
"I said I'll take it to TV. I talked to Afune and our Managing Director and they said they'll give me a chance.
"Mseto East Africa then became very popular," he revealed.
Despite the success of his two shows, Tuva launched Mseto Campus Tours and Mseto Mashinani where the Mambo Mseto team visits various parts of the country entertaining members of the public while also scouting for talent.
Through this initiative, the media personality has offered growth platforms to various artists and discovered talent from across the country. Dancehall artist, Dufla Diligon credits Tuva with his rise to stardom.
In 2020, outside of the two shows and tours, he also registered and launched two charity organisations, Mzazi Foundation and his awards show dubbed Mseto East Africa Awards.
"A lot has been given to me. I feel it's important to give back," he explained.
The foundation supports and sponsors needy children aspiring to work in the media.
The Mseto East Africa Awards features 80 per cent Kenyan artists and 20 per cent from around East Africa.
In 2019, he was feted with the Radio/TV Personality of the Year Award at the Afrimma awards.
