full multimedia story at https://nagawabetty2018.wordpress.com/2018/06/22/journalists-in-kenya-practice-under-threat/

Between 2000 and 2016, seven Kenyan journalists were killed while in the line of duty. Lynette Mukami an online sub-editor of Business Daily vividly remembers one of the deaths. It was in September of 2016 when Dennis Otieno, a freelance photographer, was gunned down by three men who were seeking to retrieve a ‘sensitive’ photo he had taken earlier in the day.

“This left Kenyan journalists in fear of working on sensitive stories with fear of putting their lives in danger,” says Lynette Mukami.

Another correspondent Joseph Masha, working with the Standard Group, was believed to have been poisoned when he shared a meal with a local politician one evening. The journalist collapsed and died moments after meeting the politician.

A number of challenges and obstacles have compromised the journalists’ safety. These include lack of or inadequate facilitation, poor pay, working under managers who are not trained journalists, and, sometimes taking instructions from unethical editors who have accepted bribes from news sources, especially politicians.

According to Eric Odour, the secretary general of Kenya Union of Journalists, some media houses turn a deaf ear to investigating violations committed against their reporters. He adds that between November 2012 and January 2013, the Media Council of Kenya received 30 complaints of cases ranging from harassment, intimidation and violent attacks of journalists. The cases have, however, not been brought to a logical conclusion.

“The political beat is the most dangerous especially during election campaigns. During this period, majority of journalists in Kenya receive work-related threats from politicians,” says Charles Ogal a journalist of Cross Media.

Cosmas Ekuam, a journalist with People Daily, knows firsthand the pangs of being a journalist in Kenya. In 2007, he was stabbed several times and left for dead by suspected state-sponsored assailants.

While ICT have helped journalists in their day-to-day work, they have also exposed them to safety and security risks. The most reported cases of threats in Kenya are through mobile telephony -- mostly text messages and phone calls. Stellar Murumba, the Nation Media Group writer for Business Daily who covered the alleged KSH5 billion loss at Afya House, say she was threatened on phone by Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Health Dr Nicholas Muragari when she attempted to hold him accountable.

Elsewhere, a number of journalists have recently been harassed and their equipment confiscated by state authorities and political goons. In Nakuru, Boniface Thuku of the Standard Group and Suleiman Mbatia of the Daily Nation were attacked by traffic policemen for filming a crackdown on public motor vehicles. Mbatia’s camera was destroyed and although they filed a complaint at the local police station no action was taken. With such a growing number of cases, it is little wonder that safety and protection of journalist is a major concern in Kenya.