- Kananu insisted that action must be taken against individuals responsible for the abduction.
- KEG dismissed the explanation from the police that the “arrest” was a mistaken identity.
Image: HANDOUT
Kenya Editors Guild (KEG) has warned of street protests if no action is taken against individuals who abducted veteran journalist Macharia Gaitho at Karen police station.
KEG president Zubeida Kananu vowed to issue a seven-day strike notice if over increasing attacks on Kenyan media.
Gaitho was with his son when were cut off by a Subaru as they left home on Wednesday morning.
He then drove off into Karen Police Station where he was forcefully taken. Addressing a press conference, Kananu insisted that action must be taken against individuals responsible for the abduction.
“We will have no option but to go to the streets because it appears that is the language the government understands best. What are they hiding? If things happen how they should, why fear?” she posed.
Kananu vowed that KEG will not allow the government to intimidate the media.
“The last time, they said if you publish certain things they would not advertise with us. It is intimidation all through. When you highlight what is happening, you get threats. We have a right as a media to highlight the ongoing in the country,” she said.
Kananu maintained that the Kenyan media will inform the public what is happening in the country without fear of favour.
“We will continue to do our job,” she stated.
Kananu dismissed the explanation from the police that the “arrest” was a mistaken identity.
“Who does not know Macharia? He has been in the industry longer than me and when I joined the media, I had already known him,” she added.
“It will not end here, we will pursue the matter to the very end.”
Video footage online captured the dramatic arrest, showing the seasoned journalist being roughed up by police before being taken to Karen police station.
The National Police Service (NPS) later clarified that they had mistaken Macharia Gaitho for a blogger named Francis Gaitho who is being sought after and “is our subject of investigation.”
The police expressed regret over the incident, stating that they do not target journalists.