In case you want to receive the complete correspondence between Jeff Koinange and me, please send me a short mail to
mariannebriner@hotmail.com
and you will receive the complete script - free of charge.
Marianne Briner
Wednesday 16 April 2008
Monday 18 February 2008
Jeff and Oprah Winfrey
Before going into the subject 'Jeff and Oprah Winfrey', I want you to read part of an article Jeff wrote regarding Oprah's involvement in South Africa ......
When reading his article carefully, you will also note that here is a man 'looking down' on Africa - a man who seems to have 'outgrown' or at least who tries to forget his personal background and roots.....
Just listen to this:
I've been covering this continent for a dozen years. There's very little about Africa that I haven't seen, heard, smelled or felt.
As a reporter, I've been in parts of Africa that can only be described as Godforsaken, covering stories as varied as famines in Niger, civil wars in devastated regions like Darfur and the victims of civil wars in Uganda and Sierra Leone and mass rapes in the Congo.
I've been up close and personal with the most bizarre characters in war-ravaged places like Libera, people who preferred to go into combat dressed in ways more fitting for a circus than a battle zone and rubbed shoulders with child soldiers barely old enough or tall enough to be carrying weapons of war.
And in Nation after Nation, one recurring image will always haunt me - the faces of those children scarred by war, famine, disease, children forced to become adults in the blink of an eye, children who never be able to just be kids again.
These are the times that I - as an African and as a reporter - ask myself, "How much worse can things get for my people?"
But there are rays of hope. We saw one last week. Oprah Winfrey's decision to spend tens of millions of dollars of her own money to help educate children she's never known in a land so far away from her own....................................................
After having seens his Report on Oprah's School (he had told me about the life-coverage before), I wrote on Tuesday, January 9, at 4:13 am !!!!!
A sleepless night worth it !!!!!!!!
I am impressed - Oprah and Anderson Cooper will for sure be proud of you - this was one of your best 'shows' I have seen up to now.
And his instant reply via his Blackberry:
I am glad you stayed up to watch it ......
One of the PROUDEST moment of my life .......
And I poured my heart out like I've never done before !!!!!!!!!
Thanks for watching !!!!!!!!!
JK
I wrote back (still in the middle of the night at 5:24 am):
I have realized that - it ws very moving and not just a 'show' ,,,,,,
This was you with all your heart !!!!!!!!!!
And Jeff:
...... She's an AMAZING woman ..... and what a presence ...... just being there with her ....... and she 'trusting' me and my reporting (because as you'd expect she's very protective of her reputation and didn't know where I was going with the whole interviewing thing) -
But she was simply AMAZING ..... and she's done what NO other woman has been able to do .........
That makes her even more AMAZING !!!!!!!!
And you are right - I've never been so touched ..... or even so moved by one person's actions ..... and so genuine, so practical, so down-to-earth despite her WEALTH and STATUS !!!!!!!!!!
WHAT A WOMAN !!!!!!!!!!
JK
After having 'digested' his mail, I replied:
You're probably right - she is amazing and she has remained what she most probably always was - a 'human being' ......
Though having read about her in the Internet, I agree with you that she must have been also sometimes been very hurt by all the funny stories about her private life.
But then - of course - she trusted you because you are like her and she must have realized that immediately.
She is very intelligent - and still a woman with a very soft side and very strong feelings for others. And that's what I admire most in her.
And again, he repeated what he had said already before:
You're right ........ I've never been so touched ....... or even so moved ......
What a WOMAN !!!!!!!!!!!
JK
To this I replied:
When I saw the Report again, something struck me:
I realized that it was Oprah who has brought out the best in you ..... it was obviously her influence, her personality and her enchanting way that has let you 'loose your control' .......
Am I right ?????????????
Oprah was a bit defensive in the beginning as she usually is - but then something happened after she spoke to you for a while:
There was a bond - a trust between her and you - almost love !!!!!!!!
Especially when she started touching your hand and you hers and then putting her arms around you - and so did you .......
And suddenly there were two people talking and feeling the same ..... forgetting (at least that's the impression I got) that there was a camera catching this 'special moment' between two people - two people sharing the same feelings .........
I am glad for you because I have never seen you so happy before !!!!!!!!!!
And Jeff:
I am glad you saw that .......... AMAZING isn't it ??????????????
After this he even felt like calling - still all excited - repeating again and again how 'amazing' Oprah was and how happy he felt for being able to spend some time with her..............
--------------------
-------------- to be continued ----------
When reading his article carefully, you will also note that here is a man 'looking down' on Africa - a man who seems to have 'outgrown' or at least who tries to forget his personal background and roots.....
Just listen to this:
I've been covering this continent for a dozen years. There's very little about Africa that I haven't seen, heard, smelled or felt.
As a reporter, I've been in parts of Africa that can only be described as Godforsaken, covering stories as varied as famines in Niger, civil wars in devastated regions like Darfur and the victims of civil wars in Uganda and Sierra Leone and mass rapes in the Congo.
I've been up close and personal with the most bizarre characters in war-ravaged places like Libera, people who preferred to go into combat dressed in ways more fitting for a circus than a battle zone and rubbed shoulders with child soldiers barely old enough or tall enough to be carrying weapons of war.
And in Nation after Nation, one recurring image will always haunt me - the faces of those children scarred by war, famine, disease, children forced to become adults in the blink of an eye, children who never be able to just be kids again.
These are the times that I - as an African and as a reporter - ask myself, "How much worse can things get for my people?"
But there are rays of hope. We saw one last week. Oprah Winfrey's decision to spend tens of millions of dollars of her own money to help educate children she's never known in a land so far away from her own....................................................
After having seens his Report on Oprah's School (he had told me about the life-coverage before), I wrote on Tuesday, January 9, at 4:13 am !!!!!
A sleepless night worth it !!!!!!!!
I am impressed - Oprah and Anderson Cooper will for sure be proud of you - this was one of your best 'shows' I have seen up to now.
And his instant reply via his Blackberry:
I am glad you stayed up to watch it ......
One of the PROUDEST moment of my life .......
And I poured my heart out like I've never done before !!!!!!!!!
Thanks for watching !!!!!!!!!
JK
I wrote back (still in the middle of the night at 5:24 am):
I have realized that - it ws very moving and not just a 'show' ,,,,,,
This was you with all your heart !!!!!!!!!!
And Jeff:
...... She's an AMAZING woman ..... and what a presence ...... just being there with her ....... and she 'trusting' me and my reporting (because as you'd expect she's very protective of her reputation and didn't know where I was going with the whole interviewing thing) -
But she was simply AMAZING ..... and she's done what NO other woman has been able to do .........
That makes her even more AMAZING !!!!!!!!
And you are right - I've never been so touched ..... or even so moved by one person's actions ..... and so genuine, so practical, so down-to-earth despite her WEALTH and STATUS !!!!!!!!!!
WHAT A WOMAN !!!!!!!!!!
JK
After having 'digested' his mail, I replied:
You're probably right - she is amazing and she has remained what she most probably always was - a 'human being' ......
Though having read about her in the Internet, I agree with you that she must have been also sometimes been very hurt by all the funny stories about her private life.
But then - of course - she trusted you because you are like her and she must have realized that immediately.
She is very intelligent - and still a woman with a very soft side and very strong feelings for others. And that's what I admire most in her.
And again, he repeated what he had said already before:
You're right ........ I've never been so touched ....... or even so moved ......
What a WOMAN !!!!!!!!!!!
JK
To this I replied:
When I saw the Report again, something struck me:
I realized that it was Oprah who has brought out the best in you ..... it was obviously her influence, her personality and her enchanting way that has let you 'loose your control' .......
Am I right ?????????????
Oprah was a bit defensive in the beginning as she usually is - but then something happened after she spoke to you for a while:
There was a bond - a trust between her and you - almost love !!!!!!!!
Especially when she started touching your hand and you hers and then putting her arms around you - and so did you .......
And suddenly there were two people talking and feeling the same ..... forgetting (at least that's the impression I got) that there was a camera catching this 'special moment' between two people - two people sharing the same feelings .........
I am glad for you because I have never seen you so happy before !!!!!!!!!!
And Jeff:
I am glad you saw that .......... AMAZING isn't it ??????????????
After this he even felt like calling - still all excited - repeating again and again how 'amazing' Oprah was and how happy he felt for being able to spend some time with her..............
--------------------
-------------- to be continued ----------
Sunday 17 February 2008
Jeff: Please don't give up on me .....
After I had sent the letter to the CNN Bosses informing them not only about London but also about all the correspondence Jeff and I had exchanged regarding the Nigerian MEND Report, Jeff called several times asking me to send another letter to his Bosses informing them that we were trying to find a solution to our 'problems' and also to tell them that he had apologized for what he did to me in London.
He wrote:
Please don't doubt me now ..... you have shaken me to my SENSES ....
And never ever give up on me ............
And like a 'release' of being able to leave the subject of what had happened in London aside, he then finally also wrote about his wife and their child:
I feel like I'm about to be RE-BORN ..... whatever it is (boy or girl) .... I'm hoping it will make my mother FINALLY talk to my WIFE .... they haven't spoken in years ......
Maybe that's why I'm so NERVOUS .... I always wanted this and always thought this would UNITE our family..
And IF it doesn't .... then I don't know what I'll do .....
My sisters have both a son and a daughter each and my brother has a whole bunch of Boys ..
But my mother (in true Kikuyu fashion) has never been 're-named' .... so maybe IF it's a girl, then she can finally be 'reborn!!!!!!!!!! If it's a boy, well and good !!!!!
Does any of this make sense ?????????
JK
Considering fulfilling Jeff's plea to write another letter to his Bosses, I had an idea how to make him realize what a woman feels after having been raped and how much effort it takes to overcome this trauma.
CNN Inside Africa had shown a report about a woman in Johannesburg taking care besides of orphans also of young woman who had endured the same situation I had.
So when Jeff called the next time asking again to write this second letter to CNN, I told him to get into contact with the home and to take over the 'patronage' of three of these young women...... i.e. paying for their living costs, medical care etc.
I explained that it would help him to better understand how women feel after such an ordeal - so my proposal also included spending time with them and not just paying .....
Much to my surprise he immediately accepted my condition and promised to go to see Gail the following Saturday when he was coming back from Ghana.
He then passed Gail's email-address to me enabling me to have direct contacts with her. I wrote to her immediately and announced that Jeff would get into contact with her and for which reason without telling her the background of all this.
It was then Jeff's idea to also include the interview regarding my book in this 'deal'.
Although I did not feel very comfortable about this point since it could give the wrong impression that this was the only thing I was ever interested in. He insisted that he would talk with the people of Inside-Africa whereas the patronage of the girls would kept as his private matter.
You will agree that I tried my best to reach out to him - inspite of the fact that I was still undergoing medical treatment for the injuries sustained in London - I was still having pain and was sometimes bleeding and had to take strong medication to avoid an infection ..... I also had decided to make an HIV-test and another one for Herpes .....
As I mentioned before, Jeff had to go to Ghana to make a report for CNN on their Independence Anniversary.
When I did not hear from him anything for some days, I spoke with my daughter what to do and this is her comment which I then also forwarded to Jeff:
Mami - Jeff is just trying to save his ass ..... don't ever trust him again ... promise !!!!!! He has proved not to be a man any woman should ever trust ...... you should never forgive him ..... he only tries to exploit your - maybe - still existing feelings for him for his own selfish reasons ...... he gives a 'shit' about you - that's the reality and please accept this ..... if not, you are only hurting yourself !!!!!
This damming message from my daughter finally made him react and he also gave the reasons for his silence:
Your Blog is causing all kinds of ripple-effects around the world and I'm starting to get phone calls from all over the place asking about the Date Rape .....
I know you've responded but the damage has been done.
I don't know what to say.
Let's talk when you get a chance. I'm back in Joburg now.
JK
You will realize that he never ever denied anything - nor did he ever comment the letter I had written to all the CNN Officials.
Only once he referred to it when he told me that he understood why I had to do it .....
But he never said that the content of the letter was not true - and this referred also to the details about the Nigeria Report.
On March 8th he then wrote to me:
I have been 'reprimanded' by CNN from emailing anything other than the 'basics' ....... it's causing them great concern.
A few days later we had a long and serious discussion on the phone and agreed at the end on the text of a letter I proposed to send to the same CNN Officials to whom I had sent the first one - including also Anderson Cooper and Oprah Winfrey - which read as follows:
Dear Mr. Walton,
I herewith wish to confirm that I have accepted Mr. Koinange's explanation and apologies regarding the London 'incident'.
Mr. Koinange is an excellent journalist and I think CNN (and the world) need somebody like him.
Sincerely,
Marianne Briner
As I said before, Jeff and I agreed on the text before - and you will have realized that he did not ask me to correct or take back anything I had said in my first letter to CNN. He only wanted them to know that he had apologized to me and that we were trying to come to an agreement.
----------------
------- to be continued ---------
He wrote:
Please don't doubt me now ..... you have shaken me to my SENSES ....
And never ever give up on me ............
And like a 'release' of being able to leave the subject of what had happened in London aside, he then finally also wrote about his wife and their child:
I feel like I'm about to be RE-BORN ..... whatever it is (boy or girl) .... I'm hoping it will make my mother FINALLY talk to my WIFE .... they haven't spoken in years ......
Maybe that's why I'm so NERVOUS .... I always wanted this and always thought this would UNITE our family..
And IF it doesn't .... then I don't know what I'll do .....
My sisters have both a son and a daughter each and my brother has a whole bunch of Boys ..
But my mother (in true Kikuyu fashion) has never been 're-named' .... so maybe IF it's a girl, then she can finally be 'reborn!!!!!!!!!! If it's a boy, well and good !!!!!
Does any of this make sense ?????????
JK
Considering fulfilling Jeff's plea to write another letter to his Bosses, I had an idea how to make him realize what a woman feels after having been raped and how much effort it takes to overcome this trauma.
CNN Inside Africa had shown a report about a woman in Johannesburg taking care besides of orphans also of young woman who had endured the same situation I had.
So when Jeff called the next time asking again to write this second letter to CNN, I told him to get into contact with the home and to take over the 'patronage' of three of these young women...... i.e. paying for their living costs, medical care etc.
I explained that it would help him to better understand how women feel after such an ordeal - so my proposal also included spending time with them and not just paying .....
Much to my surprise he immediately accepted my condition and promised to go to see Gail the following Saturday when he was coming back from Ghana.
He then passed Gail's email-address to me enabling me to have direct contacts with her. I wrote to her immediately and announced that Jeff would get into contact with her and for which reason without telling her the background of all this.
It was then Jeff's idea to also include the interview regarding my book in this 'deal'.
Although I did not feel very comfortable about this point since it could give the wrong impression that this was the only thing I was ever interested in. He insisted that he would talk with the people of Inside-Africa whereas the patronage of the girls would kept as his private matter.
You will agree that I tried my best to reach out to him - inspite of the fact that I was still undergoing medical treatment for the injuries sustained in London - I was still having pain and was sometimes bleeding and had to take strong medication to avoid an infection ..... I also had decided to make an HIV-test and another one for Herpes .....
As I mentioned before, Jeff had to go to Ghana to make a report for CNN on their Independence Anniversary.
When I did not hear from him anything for some days, I spoke with my daughter what to do and this is her comment which I then also forwarded to Jeff:
Mami - Jeff is just trying to save his ass ..... don't ever trust him again ... promise !!!!!! He has proved not to be a man any woman should ever trust ...... you should never forgive him ..... he only tries to exploit your - maybe - still existing feelings for him for his own selfish reasons ...... he gives a 'shit' about you - that's the reality and please accept this ..... if not, you are only hurting yourself !!!!!
This damming message from my daughter finally made him react and he also gave the reasons for his silence:
Your Blog is causing all kinds of ripple-effects around the world and I'm starting to get phone calls from all over the place asking about the Date Rape .....
I know you've responded but the damage has been done.
I don't know what to say.
Let's talk when you get a chance. I'm back in Joburg now.
JK
You will realize that he never ever denied anything - nor did he ever comment the letter I had written to all the CNN Officials.
Only once he referred to it when he told me that he understood why I had to do it .....
But he never said that the content of the letter was not true - and this referred also to the details about the Nigeria Report.
On March 8th he then wrote to me:
I have been 'reprimanded' by CNN from emailing anything other than the 'basics' ....... it's causing them great concern.
A few days later we had a long and serious discussion on the phone and agreed at the end on the text of a letter I proposed to send to the same CNN Officials to whom I had sent the first one - including also Anderson Cooper and Oprah Winfrey - which read as follows:
Dear Mr. Walton,
I herewith wish to confirm that I have accepted Mr. Koinange's explanation and apologies regarding the London 'incident'.
Mr. Koinange is an excellent journalist and I think CNN (and the world) need somebody like him.
Sincerely,
Marianne Briner
As I said before, Jeff and I agreed on the text before - and you will have realized that he did not ask me to correct or take back anything I had said in my first letter to CNN. He only wanted them to know that he had apologized to me and that we were trying to come to an agreement.
----------------
------- to be continued ---------
Saturday 16 February 2008
Jeff Koinange - the 'loving' husband and father-to-be ....
How I finally got to know that his wife was pregnant (14th week - so for quite a while already) ..... just read the following:
After having gone back to Joburg, Jeff wrote on Monday, February 26th, early in the morning:
Robbery !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry for the 'silence' .... I got involved in an armed robbery incident after I landed in Johannesburg, Saturday.
If you don't believe me, you can GOOGLE it.
I'm trying to get my life back in order .... credit cards, passport, drivers licence, id's, etc. etc.
I'll talk to you when I can.
JK
I did as he had suggested and found the article talking about this. It said
... that the award-winning CNN Africa Correspondent Jeff Koinange and his pregnant wife were robbed at gunpoint ....
I had to read this minimum 10 times to really believe what it meant !!!!!!
Why had he hidden this from me and instead continued talking about having a relationship (and child) with my daughter?
And even now in his mail talking about the robbery, just mention himself 'I got involved .... I'm trying to get my life back in order ....'
I... !!!!!!!!!! I ... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not once the word 'we' including his wife in this !!!!!!!!
It took me two days to 'cool down' - and then on Wednesday, February 28th, I wrote:
I still canot believe this !!!!!!!
You should have been the happiest man in the world knowing that - finally - your wife is pregnant.
And you should have told me - since as you said many times before, this was the only 'gap' in your life to really make you a happy man.
So why did you not say anything to me and instead continued talking about needing a 'heir' and wanting my daughter??????
How does your wife feel about all this ????? Does she know that you planned to have a child with another woman - just in case ??????
It makes me really sad just to think about it .... and it makes me furious at the same time .... I do not think you should get away with all this so easily.
Life has given you a lesson with that robbery - but maybe you need a little more than that to realize that you cannot play with the feelings of other people.
I wonder if and what you will reply to this - or if you prefer to go 'underground' because you do not know what to say for your defense ....
MB
If I had expected a compassionate reply of a loving husband and father-to-be, Jeff proved me once again wrong.
Instead of giving a decent explanation, he choose to attack and threaten me when he wrote on March 1st:
Two can 'play' the game ......
To BLACKMAIL me will NOT work, Marianne .... and besides, it's the LAST thing you want to do because you stand to LOOSE as much as I do ......
For one, I have a 'lovely' NAKED photo of you on a beach which about a DOZEN newspapers (from Kenya to New York) would be more than interested in getting their hands on ......
Especially if the CAPTION under it reads, 'Moi's former Mistress' .... and underneath that 'Moi shared her with others like Harry Bellafonte, Julio Iglesias, Sal Davis and many more ......
And think of the EMBARRASSMENT it would bring to your family .... unless of course you don't give a DAMN about them .....
And don't forget, I have the addresses you gave me to send copies of my book .... and the one you wrote on the FEDEX invoice .....
I wonder if a certain Mr. NICK BOIT (Nicholas Biwott) would be interested in that ?????????
Are you prepared to 'MOVE' again ??????????
The BOTTOM LINE, don't even think of Blackmailing me ...... it won't work .......
If you want to 'behave' like an adult and continue talking, I am prepared to do so ......
Let's 'settle' this like reasonable Human Beings .....
I was very upset by his mail - it was the last I had expected him to write after what he did to me London.
But deciding 'to play it cool' I replied:
I was not blackmailing you - I was just putting things right - but you have decided not only to blackmail but also to threaten me - exactly in the way John Troon had warned me you would ....
I did not want to believe him .... but now I have to.
But like in the past - I am not scared - not by you and not by Biwott or anybody else.
You should know this by now !!!!!!
But then I decided I had to 'fight back' and wrote the letter to the CNN President Jim Walton with copies to Chris Cramer, Jim Clansy, Jonathan Mann, Femi Oke and Oprah Winfrey..........
But I did not stop here. Since I had the impression that Jeff needed more than that, I also passed the information of the whole sad story to the Kenyan Blogger Kumekucha.
And on March 5th, they published everything under the title
' Top Kenyan Journalist in Date Rape Incident' .........
..... and that was the beginning of the end of Jeff Koinange's award-winning career with CNN ..........
---------
----- to be continued later today --------
After having gone back to Joburg, Jeff wrote on Monday, February 26th, early in the morning:
Robbery !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry for the 'silence' .... I got involved in an armed robbery incident after I landed in Johannesburg, Saturday.
If you don't believe me, you can GOOGLE it.
I'm trying to get my life back in order .... credit cards, passport, drivers licence, id's, etc. etc.
I'll talk to you when I can.
JK
I did as he had suggested and found the article talking about this. It said
... that the award-winning CNN Africa Correspondent Jeff Koinange and his pregnant wife were robbed at gunpoint ....
I had to read this minimum 10 times to really believe what it meant !!!!!!
Why had he hidden this from me and instead continued talking about having a relationship (and child) with my daughter?
And even now in his mail talking about the robbery, just mention himself 'I got involved .... I'm trying to get my life back in order ....'
I... !!!!!!!!!! I ... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not once the word 'we' including his wife in this !!!!!!!!
It took me two days to 'cool down' - and then on Wednesday, February 28th, I wrote:
I still canot believe this !!!!!!!
You should have been the happiest man in the world knowing that - finally - your wife is pregnant.
And you should have told me - since as you said many times before, this was the only 'gap' in your life to really make you a happy man.
So why did you not say anything to me and instead continued talking about needing a 'heir' and wanting my daughter??????
How does your wife feel about all this ????? Does she know that you planned to have a child with another woman - just in case ??????
It makes me really sad just to think about it .... and it makes me furious at the same time .... I do not think you should get away with all this so easily.
Life has given you a lesson with that robbery - but maybe you need a little more than that to realize that you cannot play with the feelings of other people.
I wonder if and what you will reply to this - or if you prefer to go 'underground' because you do not know what to say for your defense ....
MB
If I had expected a compassionate reply of a loving husband and father-to-be, Jeff proved me once again wrong.
Instead of giving a decent explanation, he choose to attack and threaten me when he wrote on March 1st:
Two can 'play' the game ......
To BLACKMAIL me will NOT work, Marianne .... and besides, it's the LAST thing you want to do because you stand to LOOSE as much as I do ......
For one, I have a 'lovely' NAKED photo of you on a beach which about a DOZEN newspapers (from Kenya to New York) would be more than interested in getting their hands on ......
Especially if the CAPTION under it reads, 'Moi's former Mistress' .... and underneath that 'Moi shared her with others like Harry Bellafonte, Julio Iglesias, Sal Davis and many more ......
And think of the EMBARRASSMENT it would bring to your family .... unless of course you don't give a DAMN about them .....
And don't forget, I have the addresses you gave me to send copies of my book .... and the one you wrote on the FEDEX invoice .....
I wonder if a certain Mr. NICK BOIT (Nicholas Biwott) would be interested in that ?????????
Are you prepared to 'MOVE' again ??????????
The BOTTOM LINE, don't even think of Blackmailing me ...... it won't work .......
If you want to 'behave' like an adult and continue talking, I am prepared to do so ......
Let's 'settle' this like reasonable Human Beings .....
I was very upset by his mail - it was the last I had expected him to write after what he did to me London.
But deciding 'to play it cool' I replied:
I was not blackmailing you - I was just putting things right - but you have decided not only to blackmail but also to threaten me - exactly in the way John Troon had warned me you would ....
I did not want to believe him .... but now I have to.
But like in the past - I am not scared - not by you and not by Biwott or anybody else.
You should know this by now !!!!!!
But then I decided I had to 'fight back' and wrote the letter to the CNN President Jim Walton with copies to Chris Cramer, Jim Clansy, Jonathan Mann, Femi Oke and Oprah Winfrey..........
But I did not stop here. Since I had the impression that Jeff needed more than that, I also passed the information of the whole sad story to the Kenyan Blogger Kumekucha.
And on March 5th, they published everything under the title
' Top Kenyan Journalist in Date Rape Incident' .........
..... and that was the beginning of the end of Jeff Koinange's award-winning career with CNN ..........
---------
----- to be continued later today --------
London - the truth ......
When I was just about boarding the plane on February 22, my cell phone rang. Jeff knew my flight schedule and therefore must have felt 'safe' to call knowing that I was about to leave London.
I decided not to take his call - he rang three times more - and again as soon as my plane landed in Malaga 3 hours later.
And then in the comfort of my apartment, I finally had the courage to call my daughter and tell her everything.
The following day, February 23rd, I then wrote to Jeff:
I was really tired and very exhausted - so I decided not to take your yesterday's phone calls.
My only worry now is my health status and then how to carry on trying to forget the whole 'episode' Jeff Koinange.
One way would be to publish all our correspondence from day one as well as the details about what has happened in London in the Internet - title: "Jeff Koinange - the real man behind the scenes - a warning to all my Sisters out there!!!!!"
To this he replied immediately via his Blackberry:
I'm asking you as a friend and as a confidante, please do not do that !!!!!!!!
PLEASE !!!!!!!!
You will ruin both you and me forever ..... think about it and let's talk when I'm back in Joburg ..... I'm leaving now !!!!!!!!
A few minutes later he added:
I wish you knew what I went through the last two days .......
As for your health, I can assure you that you are ALRIGHT .... in fact, I can PROMISE you that .... as you know I would NEVER put you in any danger .... I told you that once before .... and I am a man of my word.
As for publishing my mails, if you, Marianne, want to be the woman who will DESTROY the reputation I've worked so hard to build, to DESTROY the trust I put in you to write from the heart, that will really break my heart.
Take care and please don't worry about your health .... you're a strong and very healthy woman.
JK
Do you realize that there is no word of regret, no explanation nor apology in this mail ...... he is just afraid about his reputation and what it could do to him when and if I talk.
So I replied:
From next week onwards you can read about you and me on my blog - and I will send it to all TV- and Newspaper-outlets including some friends in Africa.
I am sorry - but you and your behaviour with me - and I am sure with other women and also with men - has forced me to do this.
You have damaged not only my body, but also my pride and I am not willing to accept this.
And again his immediate reply via his Blackberry:
If that's how you feel, then all I can say is SORRY from the bottom of my heart and I hope you can find it in your compassionate heart to forgive me and give me ONE more chance to make it up to you ......
I at least deserve that ..... one more chance ...... if I FUCK-UP again, then you can do whatever you want !!!!!
To this I replied:
Which chance? What do you think you can correct?
Being a lover as you promised to be? Being a man who cares as you said you do? Being somebody I could trust completely as you begged me I should?
Who is the real Jeff Koinange?
In my memory it is the man who forced himself on me and then left me there in that hotel room - having seen and realized that he had injured me and that I was bleeding - who left without looking back.
Only now - when you fear I could talk - you come out of hiding and beg me to forgive you.
So give me one reason why I should. You have and you never had any feelings for me - all these sweet words were just empty promises given under false presumptions.
So again my question: how do you think you could ever make up to this? And how and why should I ever trust you again?
He then also called - already being at the Airport to board the plane to Johannesburg.
When I answered his call, I immediately realized that this had been a mistake because the only reason why he called was to ask me NOT to tell my daughter anything ......
After this I had another sleepless night and the following day, I then wrote to him:
The image of a face .......
After you had left me alone in the hotel and after having taken a long shower trying to 'clean' myself, I tried to sleep - but one face appeared again and again in front of me:
The sad face of the beautiful girl of your Congo Report on the Raped Women. The empty and sad expression on her face - and this is haunting me since then.
It is exactly how I felt during these days when you left me alone after what you had done to me ..... and not even tried to call to find out how I felt.
And to think that you received your honors and awards exactly for these reports on mistreated women - what a joke .... and how sad just to think about this. How these women believed in you - trusting you with their sad stories - and the world seeing in you a sensitive and compassionate journalist ....
How wrong we all have been because the reality and my experience with you has proved all this false.
But as you wrote to me once: "This is all just a show - this is not the real me."
I did not understand then what this meant. Now I know.
And then the biggest 'joke' of all: Even in this moment you still think you could have a relationship with my daughter and asking me not to tell her anything what has happened in London because you are still interested in getting to know her (and having a child with her ....)
You must be really crazy just to think that I would ever introduce my daughter to you.
And now you even ask me to 'forgive' you - to allow you a second chance - that you deserve this at least .....
You had all the chances in the world - but you have lost each one of them.
And I am also of the opinion that you have not only lost your humanity, but tou must have sold your soul to the devil (maybe to a devil like Biwott?????).
You will for sure have realized that I never mentioned the fact that his wife Shaila was expecting their first child ........
The reason for this is quite simple: Jeff did not mention this with one word - neither in London nor during the days after.
On the contrary - also during our conversation in the Lobby - he still asked a lot about my daughter and was a bit disappointed that she had not joined me.
How I finally got to know that his wife was pregnant ...... just read the following mails .......
----------------
will be continued tomorrow ...........
I decided not to take his call - he rang three times more - and again as soon as my plane landed in Malaga 3 hours later.
And then in the comfort of my apartment, I finally had the courage to call my daughter and tell her everything.
The following day, February 23rd, I then wrote to Jeff:
I was really tired and very exhausted - so I decided not to take your yesterday's phone calls.
My only worry now is my health status and then how to carry on trying to forget the whole 'episode' Jeff Koinange.
One way would be to publish all our correspondence from day one as well as the details about what has happened in London in the Internet - title: "Jeff Koinange - the real man behind the scenes - a warning to all my Sisters out there!!!!!"
To this he replied immediately via his Blackberry:
I'm asking you as a friend and as a confidante, please do not do that !!!!!!!!
PLEASE !!!!!!!!
You will ruin both you and me forever ..... think about it and let's talk when I'm back in Joburg ..... I'm leaving now !!!!!!!!
A few minutes later he added:
I wish you knew what I went through the last two days .......
As for your health, I can assure you that you are ALRIGHT .... in fact, I can PROMISE you that .... as you know I would NEVER put you in any danger .... I told you that once before .... and I am a man of my word.
As for publishing my mails, if you, Marianne, want to be the woman who will DESTROY the reputation I've worked so hard to build, to DESTROY the trust I put in you to write from the heart, that will really break my heart.
Take care and please don't worry about your health .... you're a strong and very healthy woman.
JK
Do you realize that there is no word of regret, no explanation nor apology in this mail ...... he is just afraid about his reputation and what it could do to him when and if I talk.
So I replied:
From next week onwards you can read about you and me on my blog - and I will send it to all TV- and Newspaper-outlets including some friends in Africa.
I am sorry - but you and your behaviour with me - and I am sure with other women and also with men - has forced me to do this.
You have damaged not only my body, but also my pride and I am not willing to accept this.
And again his immediate reply via his Blackberry:
If that's how you feel, then all I can say is SORRY from the bottom of my heart and I hope you can find it in your compassionate heart to forgive me and give me ONE more chance to make it up to you ......
I at least deserve that ..... one more chance ...... if I FUCK-UP again, then you can do whatever you want !!!!!
To this I replied:
Which chance? What do you think you can correct?
Being a lover as you promised to be? Being a man who cares as you said you do? Being somebody I could trust completely as you begged me I should?
Who is the real Jeff Koinange?
In my memory it is the man who forced himself on me and then left me there in that hotel room - having seen and realized that he had injured me and that I was bleeding - who left without looking back.
Only now - when you fear I could talk - you come out of hiding and beg me to forgive you.
So give me one reason why I should. You have and you never had any feelings for me - all these sweet words were just empty promises given under false presumptions.
So again my question: how do you think you could ever make up to this? And how and why should I ever trust you again?
He then also called - already being at the Airport to board the plane to Johannesburg.
When I answered his call, I immediately realized that this had been a mistake because the only reason why he called was to ask me NOT to tell my daughter anything ......
After this I had another sleepless night and the following day, I then wrote to him:
The image of a face .......
After you had left me alone in the hotel and after having taken a long shower trying to 'clean' myself, I tried to sleep - but one face appeared again and again in front of me:
The sad face of the beautiful girl of your Congo Report on the Raped Women. The empty and sad expression on her face - and this is haunting me since then.
It is exactly how I felt during these days when you left me alone after what you had done to me ..... and not even tried to call to find out how I felt.
And to think that you received your honors and awards exactly for these reports on mistreated women - what a joke .... and how sad just to think about this. How these women believed in you - trusting you with their sad stories - and the world seeing in you a sensitive and compassionate journalist ....
How wrong we all have been because the reality and my experience with you has proved all this false.
But as you wrote to me once: "This is all just a show - this is not the real me."
I did not understand then what this meant. Now I know.
And then the biggest 'joke' of all: Even in this moment you still think you could have a relationship with my daughter and asking me not to tell her anything what has happened in London because you are still interested in getting to know her (and having a child with her ....)
You must be really crazy just to think that I would ever introduce my daughter to you.
And now you even ask me to 'forgive' you - to allow you a second chance - that you deserve this at least .....
You had all the chances in the world - but you have lost each one of them.
And I am also of the opinion that you have not only lost your humanity, but tou must have sold your soul to the devil (maybe to a devil like Biwott?????).
You will for sure have realized that I never mentioned the fact that his wife Shaila was expecting their first child ........
The reason for this is quite simple: Jeff did not mention this with one word - neither in London nor during the days after.
On the contrary - also during our conversation in the Lobby - he still asked a lot about my daughter and was a bit disappointed that she had not joined me.
How I finally got to know that his wife was pregnant ...... just read the following mails .......
----------------
will be continued tomorrow ...........
London - Part 3
And now we come to another part of the whole sad saga:
As I said, he had a 'pass' to my room and I discovered after he had left that he had taken the pass with him.
So I always feared that he could come back even in the middle of the night...... so I informed the Hotel that I had lost my pass and was then given a new one. Like this, the one Jeff had was not valid any more.
And as it turned out, my precautions had been right: He really tried to sneek into the Hotel the second night, at 4.20 am......
How I found out about this?
After I had already sent the letter to the CNN President, Jeff started calling me again. He first asked me not to tell my daughter anything since he was still interested to get to know her - and then he asked if my daughter liked the DVD's he had left in my Hotel for her ........
I first did not even know what he was talking about. He then said that he had come to my Hotel but since the pass did not work, he went to the Night Concierge but because he was not a registered guest, he could not come to my room as he had planned - so he had left an envelop for me with these 3 DVD's (one about Darfur, one about Somalia and the third one about Oprah's School).
I first could not believe that he had really have the guts to still think he could come to me in the night like that - so I called the Hotel and I got the confirmation.
The Manager apologized for not having given me the envelop when I checked out that morning - so they sent it to me by DHL.
Besides the DVD's the envelop contained also a handwritten note by Jeff telling me that he tried to come to my hotel at 4:20 am after having had a 'life' for Anderson Cooper 360 .... and then also the pass to my room was attached .....
I have everything here right now - for anybody to see that I am telling the truth.
--------to be continued tomorrow --------
As I said, he had a 'pass' to my room and I discovered after he had left that he had taken the pass with him.
So I always feared that he could come back even in the middle of the night...... so I informed the Hotel that I had lost my pass and was then given a new one. Like this, the one Jeff had was not valid any more.
And as it turned out, my precautions had been right: He really tried to sneek into the Hotel the second night, at 4.20 am......
How I found out about this?
After I had already sent the letter to the CNN President, Jeff started calling me again. He first asked me not to tell my daughter anything since he was still interested to get to know her - and then he asked if my daughter liked the DVD's he had left in my Hotel for her ........
I first did not even know what he was talking about. He then said that he had come to my Hotel but since the pass did not work, he went to the Night Concierge but because he was not a registered guest, he could not come to my room as he had planned - so he had left an envelop for me with these 3 DVD's (one about Darfur, one about Somalia and the third one about Oprah's School).
I first could not believe that he had really have the guts to still think he could come to me in the night like that - so I called the Hotel and I got the confirmation.
The Manager apologized for not having given me the envelop when I checked out that morning - so they sent it to me by DHL.
Besides the DVD's the envelop contained also a handwritten note by Jeff telling me that he tried to come to my hotel at 4:20 am after having had a 'life' for Anderson Cooper 360 .... and then also the pass to my room was attached .....
I have everything here right now - for anybody to see that I am telling the truth.
--------to be continued tomorrow --------
Friday 15 February 2008
London, February 20, 2007 - part 2
As I said before, he was dressed quite casual. I felt therefore a bit 'overdressed' and proposed to go to my room to change into something less fancy.
He agreed and asked if he could come up also since he needed to call his people before going out for dinner. I told him to give me 15 minutes so I could change before.
And then I made a big mistake: I had two passes for my room and I gave him one .... still feeling to be in total control of him.
I was still in the bathroom when he entered my room - not after 15 minutes as I had asked him, but after less than 5 minutes.....
Without any warning he opened the sliding doors of my bathroom - pulled me out telling me "Don't feel shy with me....."
And then the big shock: he was already naked .... he then pushed me on the bed and in seconds tried to enter me..... I struggled and asked him several times to stop - but he forced himself into me that's when he must have hurt me.
He held my arms down and started kissing me in a very brutal way - maybe he wanted to stop me from screaming.
He realized the pain in my face since he even made the remark, "Did I hurt you ? "
I started crying and begged him several times to stop. But he only said, "I can't - so just let me finish.." and continued.
Every move he made was like a knife cutting deeper and deeper into me ....... it was horrible.
When he finished - and yes, he even had an orgasm - he turned around and for a few minutes he was lying on his stomach next to me without saying one word.
He then got up and - still naked - he even made the phone calls he originally had come for. I heard him talking and even laughing to somebody for abt. 10 minutes.
I later checked the numbers he had called (the Hotel gave me the bills when I checked out). The first one was the London Office of CNN and the second - the call which lasted 10 minutes - was the private cell phone ( 020 - 76931670 ) of Alphonso van Marsh, CNN London.
After having finished his phone conversation and without even having used the bathroom to clean himself, he got dressed.
I then noticed that he did not even wear any pants - not even socks - just these black trousers, a sweater and a sort of black soft-leather boots.
He then turned around to me saying "I am sorry, but I have to go" - and just touching my cheeks - still wet from my tears - with his fingertips, he left......
After he had left, I then saw the blood on my body and on the bed sheets - and I had only one thought: to wash away this 'dirt' ....
Like if I was cleaning my body, I could also clean my mind and maybe even wash away the memory of what had just happened to me.
So in spite of still having pain, I took a shower and stayed under the running hot water for more than half an hour .......
--------------
--- will be continued tomorrow -------
He agreed and asked if he could come up also since he needed to call his people before going out for dinner. I told him to give me 15 minutes so I could change before.
And then I made a big mistake: I had two passes for my room and I gave him one .... still feeling to be in total control of him.
I was still in the bathroom when he entered my room - not after 15 minutes as I had asked him, but after less than 5 minutes.....
Without any warning he opened the sliding doors of my bathroom - pulled me out telling me "Don't feel shy with me....."
And then the big shock: he was already naked .... he then pushed me on the bed and in seconds tried to enter me..... I struggled and asked him several times to stop - but he forced himself into me that's when he must have hurt me.
He held my arms down and started kissing me in a very brutal way - maybe he wanted to stop me from screaming.
He realized the pain in my face since he even made the remark, "Did I hurt you ? "
I started crying and begged him several times to stop. But he only said, "I can't - so just let me finish.." and continued.
Every move he made was like a knife cutting deeper and deeper into me ....... it was horrible.
When he finished - and yes, he even had an orgasm - he turned around and for a few minutes he was lying on his stomach next to me without saying one word.
He then got up and - still naked - he even made the phone calls he originally had come for. I heard him talking and even laughing to somebody for abt. 10 minutes.
I later checked the numbers he had called (the Hotel gave me the bills when I checked out). The first one was the London Office of CNN and the second - the call which lasted 10 minutes - was the private cell phone ( 020 - 76931670 ) of Alphonso van Marsh, CNN London.
After having finished his phone conversation and without even having used the bathroom to clean himself, he got dressed.
I then noticed that he did not even wear any pants - not even socks - just these black trousers, a sweater and a sort of black soft-leather boots.
He then turned around to me saying "I am sorry, but I have to go" - and just touching my cheeks - still wet from my tears - with his fingertips, he left......
After he had left, I then saw the blood on my body and on the bed sheets - and I had only one thought: to wash away this 'dirt' ....
Like if I was cleaning my body, I could also clean my mind and maybe even wash away the memory of what had just happened to me.
So in spite of still having pain, I took a shower and stayed under the running hot water for more than half an hour .......
--------------
--- will be continued tomorrow -------
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