The Media Council of Kenya has denounced assaults on reporters reporting the ongoing demonstrations against the high cost of living.
Through a statement released on Monday, MCK CEO David Omwoyo stated that the council had been informed of claims of serious physical assaults against media members.
He claimed that other people had also lost property and that journalists were enraged by the destruction of their tools and materials.
Omwoyo stated that the attacks violate human rights and weaken the freedom of the members of the third estate.
According to him, attacks on journalists by police weaken press freedom, restrict the public's access to information, violate human rights, and may result in physical or mental injury.
His argument is that protesters who target the media degrade the spirit of mass action by rejecting the democratic principles on which it is based.
He continued by saying that planning large-scale protests that start by hitting the media is harmful to democratic ideals.
PRESS STATEMENT: Demonstrators attacking the media demean the spirit of mass action as it betrays the foundations of democracy on which it is founded. pic.twitter.com/HIQqhFNffr
— Media Council of Kenya (@MediaCouncilK) March 27, 2023
A team of international and local journalists was accosted by a knife-wielding gang in Kibra while covering the developments.
In Nairobi CBD, a Nation journalist was roughed up and ordered to delete photos by police officers.
In Kawangware, journalists on top of a vehicle accompanying the Raila Odinga motorcade were sprayed with chemicals of an anti-riot water canon despite repeatedly flagging them down.
