STATEMENT BY KENYA MEDIA SECTOR WORKING GROUP ON THE ATTACKS ON JOURNALISTS AND THREATS TO SHUT DOWN MEDIA HOUSES DURING THE ONGOING COUNTRYWIDE PROTESTS AGAINST FINANCE BILL 2024
For immediate release
June 25, 2024
The Kenya Media Sector Working Group, a coalition of media entities in Kenya, is shocked beyond comfort over unprecedented violence police today meted on journalists who were deployed by media houses to inform Kenya about countrywide protests against Finance Bill 2024.
To add salt to the injury, the government threatened to shut down KTN in frantic efforts to enforce information darkness.
One journalist suffered a gunshot injury while tens of others were targeted by police who were dispersing protestors. Police have an obligation to protect journalists under Geneva Convention when men and women of the Fourth Estate are deployed to work in hostile environment.
Just to mention a few cases, Collins Olunga, a journalist with AFP in Nairobi, suffered an injury caused by a teargas canister aimed at him by police, and sprayed Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) photographer John Omido with water mixed with harmful chemicals meant to disperse protesters. Mr Olunga was admitted to a Nairobi hospital.
LIST OF JOURNALISTS AFFECTED
| NAME | Media House | Attack | Date | |
| 1. | Justus Mwangi | Standard Media | Roughed up, bundled into police vehicle, thrown off speeding vehicle | Tuesday, June 18, 2024 |
| 2. | Maureen Muthoni | Nation Media Group | Injured
Arrested |
Tuesday, June 18, 2024 |
| 3. | Mohammed Yusuf | Voice of America | Obstructed | Tuesday, June 18, 2024 |
| 4. | Collins Olunga | Associated Press | Wounded by teargas canister | Tuesday, June 25, 2024 |
| 5. | John Omido | Kenya Broadcasting Corporation | Sprayed with water mixed with dangerous chemicals
Equipment destroyed |
Tuesday, June 25, 2024 |
In addition, the government threatened to shut down the Kenya Television Network (KTN) to suppress the media and stop the journalists from doing their job. In 2024 where citizens are spoilt for choice when consuming news, the threat to shut down media houses is not only a joke, but an insult to the intelligence of Kenyans.
We are aware Communications Authority (CA) senior officers called television signal carriers to switch off Kenya Television Network because the station aired exclusive pictures of protesters invading the National Parliament.
Switching off TV signals cannot address the crisis we have found ourselves in as a people. Don’t target the messenger! We are only doing our job!
Journalists have all the rights to practice their trade, especially during such critical times like protests against Finance Bill 2024, which directly affects the lives of Kenyans. Media acts as the link between the governed and the governors, and this remains a public good.
We reiterate our resolve as Kenya Media Sector Working Group to take legal action against Inspector General Japhet Koome over these unwarranted attacks on journalists.
Journalists are accountable to the society due to their important role of providing a platform for the citizens to interact with their leaders to set the agenda for the nation.
About the Kenya Media Sector Working Group
Signed:
- Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ)
- Kenya Editors Guild (KEG)
- Kenya Correspondents Association (KCA)
- Association of Freelance Journalists (AFJ)
- Association of Media Women in Kenya (AMWIK)
- Digital Broadcasters Association (DBA)
- International Association of Women in Radio and TV (IAWRT)
- Article-19 Eastern Africa
- Eastern Africa Editors’ Society (EAES)
- Association of Professional Broadcasters (APB)
- Kenya Parliamentary Journalists Association
- Baraza Media Lab
- Association of Devolution Journalists
- Kenya Community Media Network
- Development Through Radio
- Association of Professional Broadcasters
- Digital Broadcasters Association
- Media Owners Association
- Grassroots Journalists Association
- Foreign Press Association, Africa
- Political Journalists Association of Kenya
- Association of Kenya Community Media Operators (AKCMO)
About the Kenya Media Sector Working Group
KMSWG is a coalition of key media actors, bringing together journalists and other civil society organisations. KMSWG convenes to deliberate on the operating environment of the media, guided by articles 33, 34, 35, 36 and 37 of the Constitution on Kenya, speaking to freedoms of expression, media, access to information and assemble respectively.
