Boniface Mutinda, a Trailblazer who is Redefining Digital Communication and Public Relations

His passion for digital marketing would leave you speechless, his remarkable journey would leave you marveled. Meet Boniface Mutinda, a seasoned digital communication and PR practitioner who has redefined modern-day Communications and risen through the ranks to become the Communications Lead at the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA). He is also a family man, happily married to one wife and a father of one child aged two and a half years.

The third born in a family of four siblings grew up in Ngiini Village in Makueni County. Like any other child from a humble background, he walked to school barefooted and would go without lunch at times.

Growing up as a youngster, he was fascinated by listening to his father’s radio, the young Boniface would enthusiastically listen to veterans like Caroline Mutoko and Leornard Mambo Mbotela. He was also an avid reader of newspapers and imbibed much knowledge, especially in the communications sector. These early experiences whetted his appetite to pursue a course in Mass Communication.

Later, he would join the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC) to pursue his much-coveted dream of becoming a media personality. At KIMC, he graduated with a diploma in Media Technology and later advanced his education at St. Paul University, where he pursued a Bachelor of Arts in Communication. He was later awarded a scholarship training in Business Communication by Bloomberg Media Initiative courtesy of Bloomberg Scholarship Training. He has also pursued several courses on digital communications, which have immensely sharpened his digital communication skills.

Boniface started his career way back in 2012 when he joined the Standard Group as a studio technical operator and later a trainee radio presenter at Radio Maisha. He was instrumental in the conception and implementation of various shows in KTN, among them the KTN Morning Express with the then host Yvonne Okwara. At the same time, he also co-hosted a morning gospel radio show ‘Safari with Antony Ndiema’ at Radio Maisha. Two years later, he would join Nation Media Group in TV production as a studio technical operator, where he participated in the conception, implementation, and growth of NTV’s leading lifestyle and current affairs show ‘The Trend’, which was then hosted by Larry Madowo. During that period, he founded Tindapixels Communications in 2015, taking the role of team lead and video producer.

Through his hard work, he later joined one of the leading real estate companies, Optiven Group, as a Photographer and video producer and rose to the rank of the digital media manager where he led a team in digital communications and marketing for four years.

Over the years Boniface has remained consistent in his course and has consulted for other organizations among them the Institute of Human Resource Management (IHRM), Amref International University (AMIU), Simba Corporation, and Access to Medicine Platform, White Ribbon Alliance Kenya, and Stitching Pamoja Kenia.

A turnaround in his career occurred during the heightened period of Covid-19. Amid retrenchments, salary cuts and businesses shutting down, Boniface secured an opportunity at KEPSA to support a Master Card Foundation-funded project in communications. The project dubbed SMEs Covid-19 Recovery and Resilience Programme aimed to help small businesses navigate the effects of Covid-19. Within the first six months of the project implementation, he managed to lead strategic digital media campaigns that saw the project become a trending topic, according to a study conducted by Ipsos Synovate.

The resounding success of the project is what propelled him at KEPSA. He says it is the feeling of being useful in empowering SMEs that gives him the zeal to wake up and work extra hard. To put the numbers in perspective, by mid-2020, KEPSA had targeted to empower over 1,000 businesses with free interest loans and training & mentorship programs. And by February of the same year, they had hit their target, making it one of the wildest successful projects for SMEs.

“The art of communication is being able to deliver the message in the simplest way possible so that your target audience is able to understand and interpret your message correctly,” says Boniface.

Over time he has learned that communication is not always about firefighting when brands face negative publicity but is a crucial practice for any enterprise that wants to succeed, “we need to take communication practice seriously as a key component to the success of every business.”

Boniface encourages young people to identify their area of interest and follow their passion. “You will meet many obstacles, people will discourage you and tell you that you are not good enough, but if you like and enjoy what you are doing, you will not easily give up,” he stoically remarks.