This archive report was first published on 13 January 2020.
On Monday, a photojournalist with the Daily Nation was badly beaten by police officers while covering a protest in Mombasa, sparking widespread condemnation.
The attack on Laban Walloga is just one in a series of incidents targeting journalists in the past two weeks, according to the Media Council of Kenya.
‘Attacking journalists in the line of duty is a violation of the law and perpetrators must be brought to book within the provisions of the Kenyan law,’ said David Omwoyo, CEO of the Media Council of Kenya.
Walloga has been attacked before, in August 2018, when he was beaten alongside NTV cameraman Karim Rajan while trying to cover a story.
Other journalists who have recently been attacked include Robert Maina from Inooro TV and Daily Nation journalists Wanjohi Githae and Brian Obuya.
The Media Council of Kenya is calling on the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Independent Police Oversight Authority to investigate the cases of journalists’ attacks.
Protests against the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) regulations, which have negatively impacted the coastal city’s economy, have been ongoing since 2019.
