Maureen Mureithi a cameraperson at NTV was on Tuesday injured while covering the ongoing protests in Nairobi's Central Business District (CBD).
Mureithi was reportedly hit with a police water cannon along Cardinal Otunda Street and was seen being helped by other colleagues on the street.
"NTV's cameraperson Maureen Mureithi injured after being hit by water cannon along Cardinal Otunga Street," the media house shared.
The media practitioner was rushed to the hospital as a demonstration over the Finance Bill 2024 escalated. Some protestors and journalists were arrested in the process.
Besides the cameraperson, other journalists who were on duty in the CBD were harassed by police officers patrolling the streets.
In one of the videos online, a journalist was manhandled by a police officer who dragged him away from Parliament's entry and apprehended him. The officers were heard saying "Hakuna press hapa (No press is allowed here)".
Despite the efforts of other journalists to show their badges and explain that they were allowed, the officers forced them to vacate the premises near the National Assembly.
"We are from Nation Media, and we don't know where our colleague has been taken to," one of the journalists stated as the officers continued to chase them away.
In response to the incidents befalling journalists, the Congress of African Journalists (CAJ) condemned the arrest of other journalists and media practitioners who were covering the demonstrations.
CAJ asked police officers to release all journalists who have been apprehended and should going forward ensure the freedom of the press.
This demonstration has been organised by Kenyans who are opposing the punitive taxes outlined in the Finance Bill 2024. The movement dubbed 'Occupy Parliament' is aimed at getting the bill dropped.
After the protests began on Tuesday midmorning, police officers and other security personnel were deployed to ensure the demonstrations were peaceful and no one was harmed or property was destroyed.
However, some individuals got rowdy forcing the officers to spray them with the water cannon which happened to hit the cameraperson as well.
