Citizen TV’s Kanze Dena has been trending since her appointment on Tuesday to the Statehouse as the new Deputy State House Spokesperson and Deputy Head of the Presidential Strategic Communication Unit (PSCU).
Kellen Beatrice Kanze Dena will now be in the Statehouse after close to 16 years in the newsroom. The 39-year-old TV siren who carries herself with grace has seen it all in life.
Little was said about top TV anchor Kellen Beatrice Kanze Dena until her appointment as President Uhuru Kenyatta’s deputy spokesperson yesterday. A fourth born in a family of six, the news director, producer and Swahili news anchor is a 39-year-old woman with many titles under her belts. Kanze who stars alongside Lulu Hassan on Ctizen TV’s ‘Nipashe’ was born of Duruma parents in Kwale but had her primary and secondary education in Embu County.
She went to Kianjokoma Promary School before joining Kyeni Girls. She would later study journalism and mass communication in Foundation Collage of Professional Studies.
Her stint as journalist began at Kenya Broadcasting Corporation as an intern. Honing her skills as a radio reporter. While at KBC she had her second child. Misfortune would kick in a year later when her mother died of cancer. Much has changed since then, she is now married whilst co-parenting with the father of her six-year-old son. In her new role, she will take over the leadership of digital, messaging, research, branding and press at State House.
Here are some interesting facts about Kanze Dena that you need to know:
- She suffered low self-esteem at a young age: As a young girl studying in Kianjokoma Boarding School in Embu, Kanze matured faster than her age mates, developing breasts and hits ahead of her classmates. She has had bow-legs all which contributed to her low self-esteem.
- Great acting skills: Kanze Dena, though not an active actress has great acting skills. While Kyeni secondary school, Kanze performed during drama festivals.
- Kanze was once a casual labourer: Immediately after high school, Kanze Dena worked as a potato peeler at her grandfather’s hotel in Mombasa. She also worked as a dish washer and finally a waitress in the same cafeteria.
- She lost her first child: While working as a waitress, Kanze fell pregnant and the man responsible disappeared. She quit the job and applied for a secretarial course at Loreto. Too embarrassed to tell her mom about the pregnancy, Kanze hid it from her and intended to give the child up for adoption immediately after birth. This however did not go as planned since her mother got wind of the pregnancy and went to get her from Pumwani when she delivered. The little girl Natasha Anzani however passed away three months after delivery.
- She suffered depression: When her little girl passed on, Kanze sunk into depression and even became suicidal. She felt like the death of Natasha was a punishment for giving birth before she got married.
- She is a KIMC graduate: After battling depression for well over a year, the baubbly TV girl enrolled for a Diploma in Mass Communication course at the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication.
- She is a mother of one and co-parents: She is the dotting mother to one 12-year-old Nathaniel Amani. Kanze co-parents with the boy’s dad.
- She lost her mother to cancer: Kanze Dena lost her mother to colon cancer one year before she joined Royal Media Services.