Gukena FM newscaster Emily Kimani recently drew praise from veteran radio personality Maina Kageni for her prowess in translating news from English to Kikuyu.
During the Kasheshe segment of the breakfast show, the Classic 105 presenter sent out a shout out to Emily appreciating her work.
“What Emily does is she translates the news from English to Kikuyu for the bulletins on Gukena every morning. That is a very hard task. Please know that you are appreciated this morning,” said Maina.
Emily said Maina’s endorsement caught her by surprise.
“I first received a text message from a security guard downstairs, saying Maina is praising me on radio, and many more text messages from friends followed,” she said.
“Maina Kageni is the last person I expected would notice what I do since we are on air at the same time and we only meet in the morning before 6 am,” she added.
Emily said she enjoys translating and it has become her way of life.
“I do everything in translation, including my thinking. It is my task to release in my language that pure language that is under the spell of another, to liberate the language imprisoned in a work in my recreation of that work,” she said.
“It’s something I enjoy doing now because I have done it for many years.”
Emily Kimani, alongside Karungo Wa Thang’wa, translated the draft constitution in 2010.
“That is where my skills and ability were tested. It was a big publication as you would expect and we had a deadline of two weeks, but we did it in a day and night,” she said.
Emily’s parting shot to aspiring media personalities is: “Patience is bitter but its fruit is sweet. God has perfect timing; never early, never late. It takes a little patience and it takes a lot of faith but it’s worth the wait.”
