12 Facts About Kamahl Santamaria

Kamahl Santamaria is a New Zealand television journalist who achieved international prominence as an anchor for Al Jazeera between 2005 and 2022.

Kamahl Santamaria's parents were born in Aden, Yemen; his father's family originates from Goa, India.

Kamahl Santamaria received his secondary education at Macleans College, where he was in Kupe House.

Kamahl Santamaria moved up to producing nightly sports bulletins, under the influence of veteran New Zealand journalists Tony Ciprian and Angus Gilles.

Kamahl Santamaria has remained visible in New Zealand media in recent years, with regular radio slots on RadioLive, NewstalkZB, and RNZ, and articles for The Spinoff.

Kamahl Santamaria was a reporter, presenter and producer on the nightly Sky Business Report with David Koch.

In 2004, Kamahl Santamaria moved to New York and London, and in 2005 was recruited by Al Jazeera English to become a news presenter in Doha, Qatar.

Kamahl Santamaria was the primary presenter of Al Jazeera's interactive newshour newsgrid which ran between November 2016 and March 2019.

Kamahl Santamaria was the electoral "number cruncher" for the US Presidential Elections in 2008,2012,2016, and 2020 and in January 2021, went on to anchor Al Jazeera's US presidential inauguration coverage from Washington DC.

On 17 March 2022, Kamahl Santamaria announced on-air that he was leaving Al Jazeera after 16 and a half years.

Kamahl Santamaria returned to New Zealand in March 2022, joining TVNZ to present the network's Breakfast programme from April 2022, replacing John Campbell.

On 27 November 2023 Kamahl Santamaria announced that he would be selling his house to fund legal action against TVNZ.