State condemns persistent killing of bloggers

Government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura said the government will go out of its way to protect bloggers

In Summary
  • His remarks come just hours after authorities confirmed the body of Peris Mugera, a blogger in Tharaka Nithi was found in Kirinyaga.

  • Mugera was reported missing on February 29.

Government spokesman Isaac Mwaura
Government spokesman Isaac Mwaura
Image: FILE

Government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura has said the Kenya Kwanza administration is appalled by the persistent killing of bloggers across the country.

He said the government condemns the killing of bloggers, citing the latest incident which occurred in Tharaka Nithi.

“Yes, they may be a pen in the neck to you, but bloggers have a right to blog whatever they think. The media has now been democratised,” he said.

Addressing a press conference, Mwaura said bloggers have been used to disseminate information and make people aware of current happenings.

“If you are intolerant to people who have divergent opinions, I think you have a very thin skin. We want to condemn people who think that the only way to silence people who have divergent opinions is by killing them,” he added.

He regretted that people were killing others because of a difference of opinion.

Mwaura said the government will go out of its way to protect people who pass information through alternative media.

His remarks come just hours after authorities confirmed the body of Peris Mugera, a blogger in Tharaka Nithi was found in Kirinyaga.

Mugera was reported missing on February 29.

Her body was discovered on Friday in Kirinyaga, showing signs of injury on her forehead according to a police report.

According to reports, in her last conversation with her two children, Mugera informed them that she would meet a friend and proceed to work elsewhere, promising to return in the evening.

The children were alarmed when their mother failed to return and alerted the landlord who in turn informed the deceased’s friends and relatives.

A search was mounted with a missing person report filed at Chuka Police Post on March 1, 2024.

It was on the same day that the body of an adult female who would later be identified as Mugera was found along the Makutano-Sagana highway in Kirinyaga County.

Her mobile phone signal was last traced to Kathoge in Kirinyaga county on Friday at 2 am before it was switched off.

Her last message posted on social media saw her lament that her body was in dire need of a treat.

Her murder follows the killing of prominent Meru blogger Daniel Muthiani, known as Snipper, whose body was found dumped in Mutonga River in Tharaka Nithi County on December 16, 2023.

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