Three Standard Media journalists were attacked on Friday, March 24, while in transit to Kisumu after covering President William Ruto’s Kisii tour.
Speaking to the Standard, Michael Mute, a reporter, recounted that they were driving through a forest area along the Kisii-Kisumu Road when an object hit their vehicle with a heavy bang.
Bram Bwire, Mute's fellow journalist sitting in the front seat was hit on his arm, leaving him with minor injuries.
Perplexed by the incident, the vehicle driver sped off from the scene and reported the matter to a police station along the way.
While recounting the incident, Mute and his fellow journalists revealed that the unidentified people attacked other motorists plying the route.
“We saw a matatu driver who was badly hit. His right ear was bleeding and he looked like he needed immediate medical attention,” he told The Standard.
Police officers were deployed to the scene to assess and assist other motorists who had parked along the way after the attack.
The attackers' motives and identities were yet to be established by the time of this publication.
On Sunday, March 12, a Nation Media Group journalist was injured after rowdy youth stormed a meeting he was covering in Homa Bay County.
Several journalists covering the mass action protests by Azimio were also injured on Monday, March 23, on the field, with no action yet from authorities to apprehend the culprits.
In response, the Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ) condemned the attack and urged the government to tighten loopholes in the policies to protect journalists in their line of duty.
"We are defying the constitutional rights of journalists when we attack them. Homabay County youths should respect journalists and refrain from such acts," KUJ Chairperson in Homa Bay, James Omoro, stated.
