Media protests
Machakos journalists joined the nationwide media protests in Machakos town Wednesday while demanding justice for their colleague Catherine Wanjeri of Media Max who was shot by police while covering demonstrations in Nakuru town.
The journalists condemned the incident terming it as barbaric and a barrier to their freedom of gathering information and informing the public. They decried the use of teargas and excessive force by the police agains the media while trying to cover the ongoing Genz’s protests in the country.
According to Martin Masai, a journalist at Mbaitu FM in Machakos, journalists should be protected and given freedom to disseminate information to the public without being intimidated. “We seek no favours, we are asserting our rights, we want to work without threats, shooting and tear-gassing journalists is terrorizing the messenger,” he lamented
He added that Tuesday’s protests were mainly to address media freedom since it fits democracy, and to demand justice for Wanjeri. Rose Mukonyo, a journalist at Standard Media group termed the media as the voice of the voiceless because the media is used as a medium of information and therefore, they should be given freedom to report.
“The media should be given an opportunity to inform the Kenyan citizens what is going on in the country,” added Mukonyo.