New York, February 21, 2006—Police in Kenya raided two tabloid newspapers on Monday, confiscating equipment and documents and arresting several journalists in the capital, Nairobi. Police also detained news vendors selling the so-called “alternative press” publications, which are known for provocative reporting on sex and political scandals. Local journalists told the Committee to Protect Journalists…
NOVEMBER 16, 2005 Posted: December 2, 2005 Kass FM CENSORED The Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), an official regulatory body, suspended the privately owned radio station Kass FM, which broadcasts in the local Kalenjin language from the capital, Nairobi. Government spokesman Alfred Mutua accused the station of inciting ethnic hatred and violence, but local journalists…
OCTOBER 3, 2005 Posted: December 8, 2005 Anderson Ojwang’, The East African Standard ATTACKED Baraka Karama, Kenya Television Network (KTN) HARASSED, THREATENED Ojwang’, a correspondent for the independent daily The East African Standard, was beaten by youths bearing whips and sticks while trying to cover a government-organized meeting in the western town of Kakamega. The…
New York, April 5, 2005—The managing editor of the Nairobi-based East African Standard’s Sunday edition was acquitted of criminal charges yesterday. The charges against David Makali, pending since 2003, stemmed from an investigative article about the alleged murder of Dr. Crispin Odhiambo Mbai, a key player in Kenya’s constitutional reform process. Nairobi Chief Magistrate Aggrey…
Kenya The government of President Mwai Kibaki, whose December 2002 election ended 24 years of rule by the Kenya African National Union (KANU) party, struggled in 2004 to keep its election promises of ending corruption and boosting the economy. It failed to meet deadlines for adopting a new constitution, which Kibaki’s National Rainbow Coalition (NARC)…
JANUARY 13, 2005 Posted: February 8, 2005 Kamau Ngotho, The East African Standard HARASSED, LEGAL ACTION Journalist Ngotho was charged with criminal libel in a Nairobi court in connection with a story he wrote in the January 8 issue of the daily East African Standard detailing alleged links between the government of President Mwai Kibaki…
Although the number of journalists in prison in Africa at the end of 2003 was lower than the previous year, African journalists still faced a multitude of difficulties, including government harassment and physical assaults. Many countries in Africa retain harsh press laws. In the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, some…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is concerned about the plight of photojournalist Wallace Gichere, who is paralyzed from the waist down because of a 1991 incident in which Kenyan police officers threw him from a fourth floor residence. This crime was committed after Gichere wrote articles in the foreign press about abuses of civil and political rights in Kenya under former president Daniel arap Moi. In 2000, a government Standing Committee on Human Rights recommended that the State compensate Gichere for injuries and financial losses–a recommendation that was approved by government the same year. However, Gichere has still not received compensation.