Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has launched a countrywide training targeting journalists ahead of the August 9 GeneralElection.

A joint exercise between the electoral body and United Nations Development Programme, the training encompasses eight clusters and is meant to equip journalists with proper skills in objective and fair reporting.

The training comes in the wake of steady profiling of media houses and the safety of journalists working on community radios emerging as the key threats to the profession.

IEBC Director of Voter Education Amina Hussein said the training was meant to empower journalists in election reporting.

Speaking during the training in Naivasha, a media practitioner Oscar Obonyo termed the profiling sentiments as worrying.

He noted that the trend exposed journalists at the grassroots to threats and hatred. Dr Anki Dellnas from UNDP described the media as an important tool in any elections.