A free media is the bullwalk of any democracy.

Information is an important instrument of the people in execution of Article 1 of the Constitution.

The Article decrees that all sovereign power belongs to the people and that they might opt to exercise it directly or through their elected representatives.

But the political class desires a situation where people are not empowered to make informed decisions by the media. Politicians fear empowered voters. Because of this, they resort to propagating falseness, in the name of misinformation, disinformation, malinformaation.

Disinformation refers to false information that is intended to manipulate, cause damage, or guide people, organizations, and countries in the wrong direction.

On the other hand, malinformation describes information that stems from the truth but is often exaggerated in a way that misleads and causes potential harm.

The primary intention of spreading this kind of information is distort, hide facts and harm the targeted individuals. That is why the media is critical in debunking the myths being spread by politicians. It is worrisome that President William Ruto has become one of the biggest manufacturers of disinformation. His indefatigable regurgitation of fake promises is beyond hyperbole. The President has become the subject of caricature because of his pronouncements that seem divorced from truth, fact and logic.

That is why we are concerned about what we see as well-coordinated attacks on journalists by state actors or their minions. It is time to call out the spreaders of disinformation on critical issues such as public finance, university funding, health, social protection and delivery of public goods- starting with the presidency.

We see it as an attempt to weaken the role of journalism as a citizen and watchdog of public interest.

The latest incident occurred Wednesday in Nairobi’s Majengo area, where reporters from three news outlets were assaulted while gathering information about the shooting death of a 17-year-old student. NTV shared evidence in the form of a picture showing officers blocking a photographer from retrieving a camera while another deleted footage recorded during protests sparked by the teenager’s death.

Professional media organisations responded with justified outrage. The Kenya Editors Guild lamented that journalists were attacked “with batons, kicks, and slaps”, condemned the officers’ actions, and called for their arrest, compensation for the affected journalists and a public apology from the police agency. But such statements, while necessary and genuinely felt, have proven insufficient to end this recurring abuse.

Why do Kenyan police persistently undermine journalism? The answer is straightforward. First, they want to suppress evidence of potential misconduct, human rights violations, and unprofessional behaviour to avoid having to explain their questionable actions