The Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP) has urged journalists to prioritise their safety when reporting events which have the potential to turn violent.
During a seminar on Friday, November 1, 2024, which brought together various stakeholders including the Media Council of Kenya (MCK), Kenya Editors’ Guild, Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) and a host of university students and senior police officers, Vincent Monda, Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions noted that journalists should monitor situations before they turn violent.
“Journalists have been urged to not only report objectively but also prioritize their safety when covering events that could turn violent. The ODPP was willing to work with other agencies such as Witness Protection to help journalists hide their identity while testifying in court for their safety,” a statement from the ODPP indicated.
Mediamax journalist shot
The event marking the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists was held in Nakuru where a Mediamax journalist was shot multiple times by police officers while covering protests on July 16, 2024.
Catherine Wanjeri was shot four times by police officers along Nakuru’s Kenyatta Avenue and had three rubber bullets lodged in her body, despite clearly being marked as a journalist and having her reporting gear.
Wanjeri revealed that a police officer had inquired why she was following them before the incident happened. At one point during the fateful day, Wanjeri was pictured assisting a female police officer to dampen the effects of teargas with toothpaste.
She would later be targeted by the same police officers in an incident that left her bedridden for weeks at various hospitals in Nakuru County.
“Nobody will convince me that I was not a target, it is not the first time I have been targeted. I have been hit by a teargas canister but I did not report nor escalate the matter. I just showed my colleagues the scar on the same leg that I was shot at,” Wanjeri recounted during an interview.
IPOA investigations
In September, IPOA CEO Elema Halake revealed that some of the cases of police brutality had been investigated and that their officers were compiling the reports to initiate prosecution against culpable police officers.
“We are committed to having the cases expedited. We are under a lot of pressure from the public and rightly so. The scope of the investigations is challenging because the incidents happened across the whole country and the resources are not adequate,” Halake said on September 5, 2024.
