‘Walikua Wameniua’: Jeff Koinange Roars Back on TV After Six Months Off Air, Laughs Off His ‘Death’ Rumours

Jeff Koinange returned to Kenyan television on Wednesday night with the confidence, drama and mischief only he can summon, using his first words on air to bury days of wild speculation that he had died.

The veteran Citizen TV anchor, missing from screens for six months, reclaimed his seat on JKLive with a trademark flourish and a cheeky declaration that sent the internet buzzing all over again.

“I’m back. Like I never left. It’s good to be back. Walikuwa wameniua. How? Here I am,” he said, stepping into the studio to applause, laughter and visible relief from colleagues who had watched rumours spiral out of control online.

For days, social media had been gripped by claims that Koinange had died, fuelled by his long absence and a vacuum of information about his whereabouts.

Some users confidently announced his “death,” others speculated about illness, while a section of fans grew increasingly frantic, demanding answers.

It was not the first time a Kenyan public figure had been “killed” by the internet, but the scale of the frenzy around the award-winning broadcaster was unusually intense.

Koinange handled it with humour.

“The news of my death has been exaggerated,” he joked, before adding with a biblical wink, “For 2,000 years hakuna mtu amefufuka.” The line immediately went viral, with fans celebrating both his wit and his visible health.

Co-anchor Ayub Abdikadir, who had been holding down the show in his absence, set the tone for the night with an electrifying welcome.

“And tonight,” he began, “we reconstitute the three letters that follow each other on the keyboard… J, K and L.” Koinange strode into the frame like a man reclaiming a kingdom, laughing, waving and settling back onto the iconic JKL bench as viewers flooded social platforms with messages of relief.

Ayub teased him about the gossip that had consumed the country in his absence, asking whether “his house was in order.”

Koinange dismissed the speculation with his signature booming laugh, even grabbing the famous JKL fire extinguisher for a quick, nostalgic test run.

What he did not do was explain where he had been for half a year.

He brushed past the mystery entirely, choosing instead to dive head-first into the night’s discussion with what he proudly calls “the best political tag team on TV”: Prof. PLO Lumumba and Dr Barrack Muluka. Their fiery analysis marked a symbolic return to normal programming, as if to say the king of prime-time talk had never truly left.

Still, his understated approach to the questions surrounding his disappearance raised as many questions as it answered.

Fans had grown anxious after months with no public appearance, prompting one to ask him directly on X whether he was alive. “I’m fine,” he responded days before his return.

Whatever the truth behind his absence, Koinange’s comeback was a show of resilience and showmanship.

The rumours that “killed” him may have dominated the internet for days, but his live, laughing reappearance did what he has always done best—quiet the noise, command the stage and keep audiences talking long after the cameras stop rolling.