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Nakuru-based Rift Valley Region Law Society of Kenya (LSK) chairman Aston Muchela has condemned the shooting of Kameme TV journalist Catherine Wanjeri Kariuki during the Tuesday, July 16, 2024, protests in Nakuru.

Speaking to members of the press in Nakuru on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, Muchela demanded that the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) compel the OCS in charge to produce the police officer who opened fire on the scribe.

“We want a report from the OCS to know who actually fired those bullets and why they were aimed at a journalist,” Muchela said.

Muchela also called on officers to adhere to the National Police Service Act and to justify the shooting that happened during the demonstrations in Nakuru.

“Every bullet must be accounted for; we want a report to know why this journalist was fired at; was she a goon? Was she breaking into any building? If she was, let that building be identified; was she attacking any other peaceful Kenyan? If she was, let that person be identified,” Muchela noted.

Muchela said the attack on the scribe must be investigated and action taken against the police officer involved.

Journalists condemn shooting

The condemnation comes just hours after the Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ) expressed their concerns about the safety of journalists as they go on with their duties.

In their statement on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, KUJ Secretary General Erick Oduor termed the acts by police as barbaric, saying such acts have no place in a democratic society like Kenya.

“We demand action against the trigger-happy police officer who targeted journalists who had been deployed by media houses to inform Kenyans. Such barbaric acts have no place in a democratic society like Kenya, where journalists are required to play the role of watchdog and source of credible information to citizens,” Oduor said.

KUJ demands that the officer be investigated and prosecuted in seven days, failure to which the union will itself take the case to court.

The journalist was rushed to a Nakuru hospital and is currently recuperating at the facility, with the medical staff saying she is in a stable condition.

Journalists in Nakuru have described the attack as targeted, noting that some of them have been receiving threats from a section of police officers in the area.

Kariuki sustained three rubber bullets to her thigh while she was covering the demos in Naukuru, with a press jacket and press materials.

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