Human rights watchdogs raised concerns Sunday over the shrinking space for free and independent press and hostility towards journalists.
Article 19, a media watchdog in the Eastern African region said that 22 cases of violence against journalists and media workers were reported to it between March and April.
“A total of 59 cases of attacks, harassment and intimidation were documented between May 2019 and April 2020 which shows arise from 53 in 2019 between the same period,” it said.
Media practitioners globally celebrated the World Day of Free Press on Sunday.
The lobby said the attacks were “carried out by security agents, government officials, and organised mobs — including primary school pupils in a manner that demonstrates a sustained effort to stifle and control the press and limit the free flow of information in 22 counties.”
Nairobi recorded the highest violations with 13 incidents, followed by Mombasa with six and Turkana witnessing four cases.
The coronavirus outbreak, they said, has provided the avenue for harassment of journalists and media workers and attempt to restrain their coverage.
Coverage of the coronavirus health crisis, corruption and the 2022 succession politics are the most sensitive stories for journalists to report on in 2020, it said.
Article 19 was also concerned that despite filing such complaints of attacks and threats against individual journalists with the police, they are rarely investigated.
Of the 59 violations the lobby recorded, only one case involving a non-state actor has been investigated with the perpetrators taken to court.
“This is a mere one per cent rate of effective investigation and which suggests a high level of impunity regarding attacks on journalists in the country,” it said.
The lobby's Eastern Africa regional director Mugambi Kiai said that the hostility, including from the authorities and the members of the public was worrying.
“Failure to bring those responsible for attacks on journalists to account sends the signal that the media can be silenced through violence, and will ultimately lead to many journalists resorting to self-censorship, hampering the realisation of the right to free expression,” he said.
The government must take the necessary steps to ensure that journalists are free to carry out their work, he added.
(edited by o. owino)
