• MCK said so far, 25 local and international journalists have been targeted by both state and non-state actors since the onset the mass protests on March 20.
• Twenty of the cases of attacks, harassment and arrest of journalists was documented on Monday, March 27.
Image: MCK/TWITTER
The Media Council has condemned the brutal assault of journalists by the police as they covered Thursday's mass demonstrations.
CEO David Omwoyo says March 2023 will remain the darkest month for Kenyan media since the clamour for multiparty democracy following the vicious attack on members of the fourth estate.
"The most targeted are camerapersons and photographers who have been targeted by the perpetrators of acts of hooliganism and criminality whose interest is to destroy any evidence of their acts captured on camera," Omwoyo said in a statement on Twitter.
He said so far, 25 local and international journalists have been targeted by both state and non-state actors since the onset the mass protests on March 20.
Twenty of the cases of attacks, harassment and arrest of journalists was documented on Monday, March 27.
MCK Director for Media Training and Development Victor Bwire told the BBC that six journalists suffered serious body injuries on Thursday.
He said some of the journalists had their phones and equipment stolen or vandalised seemingly for purposes of destroying photographic evidence of police excesses during the protests.
"This was not coincidental, they were deliberate acts of assault by officers against journalists who were doing their job," Bwire told BBC Radio.
He said the Council will take legal action against the National Police Service considering the attacks were deliberate.
Police were yet to comment on the incident by Friday morning.
Azimio leader Raila Odinga called for the weekly protests to mount pressure against the government to institute measures to lower the cost of living and resolve electoral disputes claiming the August presidential poll was rigged.
Journalists covering Thursday's mass protests were caught in the mix when police viciously repelled his convoy at Kware in Embakasi South as he attempted to make his way to Outering Road and head to the CBD.
A video which has since gone viral on social media shows a plainclothes officer using his gun to break a window of a media vehicle on the convoy before shooting a teargas canister into the car.
Photos posted online showed seriously wounded journalists with bloodied clothes and bandaged faces.
In the statement on Twitter, Omwoyo condemned the attack terming it gross violation of human rights.
“Journalists are not contestants in the current political processes and it is unwarranted, gross violation of human rights and impediment to democracy to target them, while knowing they have a duty to inform the public on such matters of public interest,” Omwoyo said.
The CEO advised editors and reporters preparing for assignment to prioritise risk assessment while in the field "including boarding politicians’ vehicles and wearing appropriate safety gear for protection."