Citizen TV investigative reporter Purity Mwambia has attracted unprecedented criticism following her detailed feature on the ease of circumventing the restriction of movement in and out of Nairobi.
In the exposé dubbed Virus Safaris that aired on the evening bulletins of Sunday, June 21, Mwambia narrated her journey from Nairobi to Eldoret alongside her cameraman.
A number of Kenyans came out guns blazing after the feature calling her out in what they termed as flaws in her investigative piece.
Some criticised her out for exposing the number plate of the car they travelled in while others blasted her for exposing the driver.
"Citizen TV exposed the number plates of the ka-vehicle that Purity Mwambia and her crew hired to jump police roadblocks... Wamemwagia jamaa unga (they have ruined the guy)," read one of the reactions on the story.
"Purity Mwambia, you can't just be snitching on struggling citizens. Not in a black state," read another comment on the story.
More netizens advised that it was more beneficial to have Exposés on big corruption scandals, most notably, the Jack Ma Covid-19 donations which were reportedly stolen.
Another batch noted that some of the politicians in the country breached the cessation of movement a number of times without action being taken.
In her feature, she exposed how easy it was to move around the roadblocks by alighting from the car and either walking past the police officers or taking a motorbike.
She uncovered the workings of the driver who collaborated with a number of people to move past the roadblocks especially at Mai Mahiu where the car was driven to past the police by a different man.
They were, however, forced to take a matatu to Eldoret as the driver was determined to pick other passengers from Kisumu.
Her piece aimed at sending a warning to Kenyans on how easy it was to spread Covid-19 from the Nairobi epicentre to other counties, friends, commuters and relatives.
Mwambia, however, received some plaudits from others who commended her feature that highlighted the dangers Kenyans are exposed to.
"Purity Mwambia just did the best she could. Remember she did not only expose the driver but also the police officers manning the roadblocks. Why are Kenyans one-sided? How can people just go past roadblocks unnoticed?" wondered one netizen.
"FACT "Murity Mwambia" is just doing her job, the same way that driver was, the difference is, the driver is endangering millions of lives for a profit. This hustler narrative is ignorant of the fact that the driver still can earn without endangering lives," one of the viewers noted.
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