Nairobi, 14 January, 2020 / 10:14 pm (ACI Africa).
A Kenyan institution in charge of regulating media conduct and freedom has decried increasing police brutality meted out to journalists, saying the attacks set a “dangerous trend in the country.”
“The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) takes great exception to the attacks against journalists and media workers by the police. Such unprecedented behaviour by the police, who are otherwise supposed to maintain law and order sets a dangerous trend in the country,” the institution’s statement issued to newsrooms Monday, January 13 reads in part.
In the statement, MCK Chief Executive Officer, David Omwoyo, highlighted the cases of journalists Laban Odhiambo Walloga, Robert Maina, Wanjohi Githae and Brian Obura who were roughed up in the previous week while going about their job in separate incidences in the coastal city of Mombasa, Nakuru in the Rift Valley region and Kenya's capital Nairobi, respectively.
“The incidences are just a few of the eight cases the council has received and addressed in the last few days,” said Mr. Omwoyo.
This is not the first time that journalists have been attacked in Kenya. The East African country has reportedly been notorious in violation of the rights of political activists and journalists, ranking poorly among her peers. The 2019 World Press Freedom Index ranks Kenya 100th out of 180, with a score of 32.44 in press freedom.
