This archive report was first published on 25 June 2020.
On June 22, 2020, the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) wrote to Mandera Governor Ali Roba over complaints of harassment of journalists and denial of access to county government events and information.
The letter, signed by MCK Chief Executive Officer David Omwoyo, cautioned Mr Roba against any further action that could potentially harm the rights of the journalists.
According to the letter, the MCK is aware of allegations that journalists in Mandera have been having challenges accessing the office of the governor and other county officials whenever seeking information on various issues.
On June 18, 2020, Governor Roba and his entourage landed in Mandera with a battery of journalists from Nairobi, only to instruct police to remove locally-based reporters out of the event.
The Mandera-based journalists found themselves on the wrong side of the governor after they reported on 'bad food' that the county government was distributing to locals to cushion them against the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
The MCK CEO stated that the council is protesting in the strongest terms possible the act of blocking journalists from public events and denial of information which they are entitled to in executing of their duties.
The letter is copied to Ms Lucy Ndung'u, the commissioner in-charge of access to information at the Commission for Administrative Justice.
It is not only journalists who are on the receiving end in Mandera County. Local activists and artistes have also reported harassment from Governor Roba's administration.
Mr Ahmed Gabow, a poet based in Mandera town, was locked up in police cells on Tuesday after a poem he recited on the gains and failures of the county government in the past eight years was widely shared on social media.
