‘My bosses tried to get me off-air many times’: Louis Otieno responds to claims he was arrogant

Veteran news anchor Louis Otieno is now opening up on his controversial life behind the scenes of our TV screens, and why he often clashed with his superiors over the course of his two-decade media career.

Otieno, in a new podcast on Nation.Africa, seeks to defend himself following long-running claims that he posed a toxic working environment to his colleagues owing to what many perceived as his arrogance.

According to the TV legend, he was never really the bully people portray him to be, just firm and steadfast and organized with his decisions as well as his work.

He narrates how, one time when a former employer introduced a new system of dressing for the anchors to keep them on brand, he scoffed at it and challenged the top brass.

Otieno says he never understood why the media house wanted to procure suits and dresses for the news presenters to wear only when they were going on air and then return them immediately afterwards.

He did not like that directive, he was not going to abide by it, and he made his mind known at the meeting. And what did he get in return? He was sin-binned for a while, until pressure from Kenyans to have him back overwhelmed the bosses.

"So, let me understand what you are saying; you'll dress me up for the news but tomorrow, I can bounce around in my estate or in town in my Rastafari T-shirt or my football jersey or my dungarees or whatever I chose to wear. Will that complement the brand's look?” He posed.

“I said, I’m sorry but I’m a grown man. I know how to dress myself. I know how to blend my colours. I do not believe I need my clothing or my dressing supervised at this age.”

He added: “My bosses tried to get me off-air so many times. I thank Kenyans because many times I remained on air because of pressure from them.”

Otieno further tells of another instance on the first day of reporting to a new work station where he immediately got off on the wrong foot with one of the bosses during the first meeting.

He says he walked into the superior’s office and he (superior) attempted to flex on him (Otieno) but he shot it down, automatically making an enemy in the process.

“I vividly remember him swinging on his seat. And he looks at me and he says, ‘So you are the one who’s called so-and-so?’ And I said, ‘Those are my names, Yes.’ And then he says, ‘So what makes you think I need you?’” He recalls.

“I’m looking at him and I knew we were in trouble from day one. But I knew what I have is bigger than me. And if it’s bigger than me, it’s bigger than him. So I looked at him and I told him, ‘Actually, Sir, I think the correct question would be, what can you do for me?’”

He further adds: “They hate my guts. They say I don’t respect authority. They say I don’t follow protocol. But I’m sorry. I cannot sit back and apologise to you that I did not sit back and be a passenger on your train  when you’re moving at 20 kilometres per hour and it is going to Mombasa. We’ve got to move!”