Somalis in Kenya hounded by security forces, refugee policy
Exiled Somali journalists living in Nairobi were struck with disbelief this week when daily newspapers published a statement by the Department of Refugee Affairs ordering all Somali refugees to move to refugee camps. “The refugees, particularly those living in urban centers, are contributing to insecurity in the country,” the statement read. The acting commissioner for…
Video: Journalists in exile
Four East African journalists who were forced to flee their countries tell about their experiences, difficulties, and hopes for the future. (3:43)Read CPJ’s report, “Journalists in exile: Crisis in East Africa,” for more information about journalists forced to go into exile.
China’s media footprint in Kenya
Will China’s quickly expanding media presence in Africa result in a fresh, alternative, and balanced perspective on the continent–much as Al-Jazeera altered the broadcast landscape with the launch of its English service in 2006–or will it be essentially an exercise in propaganda?
Exiled Somali journalist Hassan Mohamed dies in Nairobi
Veteran Somali radio journalist Hassan Mohamed, 45, died early yesterday morning in Eastleigh, a Nairobi suburb. He had fled Mogadishu in 2010, having been threatened, kidnapped, and shot twice. One of hundreds of Somali refugees in Kenya, many of them journalists, Hassan struggled to support himself and survive worsening diabetes-related ailments, despite relentless support from…
The hazards of reporting all sides of the Lamu port story
Freelance photographer Abdalla Bargash had accompanied Kenya’s permanent secretary for transport, Cyrus Njiru, to cover a meeting with Lamu community members over the newly constructed Lamu port. The Kililana Farmers’ Association are concerned that the major construction on the once-sleepy island of Lamu off Kenya’s coast could encroach on their farmland.
In Nairobi, plans to improve aid to exiled journalists
Kassahun Yilma left Ethiopia quickly in December 2009. He didn’t have time to save money for the journey, choose a place to go, arrange housing or a job. He left his wife, his mother, his house and all his friends behind. Yilma didn’t know what lay ahead. He only knew that if he stayed, he…
Glimmer of hope for justice in Kenyan death
Slain journalist Francis Nyaruri received threatening calls from a senior policeman shortly before he disappeared and his decapitated body was found in Kodera forest, western Kenya, a court sitting in Kisumu heard today in the presence of two murder suspects and four witnesses.
Kenya’s quiet information revolution
An information revolution is quietly unfolding in Kenya, potentially allowing the public greater access to government data and independent local news. This month, the nation became a regional leader in open government with the launch of a website providing easy access to volumes of public information. Journalists can tap into public budget data with relative…
Acquitted: A Kenyan journalist struggles to report freely
A court in Kisumu, western Kenya, recently acquitted journalist Bernard Okebe, at left, of graft charges after a two and a half year case against him. While the case is finally over, Okebe is still dealing with the fallout of being accused of blackmail.In December 2008, the police chief of Nyamira, a town in western…
A Somali journalist still gets taunting threats in exile
It was February 2008 when Bahjo Mohamud Abdi received her first anonymous phone call. It was a man’s voice asking her to confirm who she was. Abdi was a presenter and correspondent for the state radio in Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland. Abdi confirmed her identity and thought no more about it. But then she…