Citizen TV News Anchor Jeff Koinange has opened up on growing up without a father figure.

In an interview with Grace Msalame, Koinange said that his father, Fredrick Mbiyu Koinange, died just two months after he was born, leaving his young mother with four young children to take care of.

“The month of March is very symbolic in my family. I was born in January 7th 1966. My dad died on March 7th 1966. I was two months old so he left my mom when she was 28 years old, very young  in the 60s with four children. Imagine my oldest sister was four and a half years old. My other sister two and a half, my brother one and a half and I was two months old. I never knew him,” Jeff said.

“This month of March we celebrated him, because I am 57,  we commemorate him every year and my mum pointed out that this year he could have been 100 years old because he was 43 when he died,” he added.

His mom however supported them and ensured that they went to the best schools in the country. Koinange further said that he, together with his siblings, could never repay their mother for bringing them up single-handedly.

He also noted that lacking a father also inspired him to get where he is today.

“It is that drive when you grow up without a father, when you grow up without that base and foundation. My mom was my father and my mothers and the job she did we could never thank her. She didn’t remarry, she didn’t abandon us she just raised us. She said one thing she would give us is a foundation, she gave us education so she took us to the best schools,” the award-winning journalist.

Jeff noted that missing a father figure has impacted on how he is raising his son.

“My mum tried her best to be that mentor to be that guide and a lot of time when I went out to the world, that’s when you it hit you. There is no father figure, something is missing but you have to keep moving on. You have to find something that will inspire you. It took a while and now when I am raising my son I say I didn’t have this,” he said.