Leonard Mambo Mbotela sworn in as member of National Heroes Council

Veteran journalist Leonard Mambo Mbotela has been sworn in as a member of the National Heroes Council.

Mbotela was sworn in on Monday, September 26 morning in a ceremony witnessed by Chief Justice Martha Koome.

He was appointed to the position by outgoing Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Culture and Heritage Amina Mohamed last in August 2022.

Mbotela will serve as a member of the council for a period of three years with effect from August 5.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by section 4 (3) of the Kenya Heroes Act, the Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Culture and Heritage appoints Leonard Mambo Mbotela as a member of the National Heroes Council, for a period of three years with effect from the 5th August, 2022,” read the appointment notice.

"The mandate of the National Heroes Council which includes the identification, selection and honouring of national heroes is an important one as our national story is largely the narrative of the contribution by our heroes to nation building.

"We can build a new culture and practice of identifying, celebrating and supporting our unsung heroes and heroines when they’re still with us. That is the only modest way through which we can show appreciation for their heroic acts," CJ Koome said during the ceremony.

Mbotela was a long-serving broadcaster at the Voice of Kenya (VoK) that later became Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC).

In July 2021, he started penning his autobiography titled 'Je Huu Ni Ungwana?', in which he narrates the chilling events of the 1982 attempted coup. He was in the middle of it all as he was captured from his house in Ngara estate and driven to KBC offices and told to announce that then-President Daniel Moi had been ousted.