Update Friday, February 2: EACC has denied that its officer assaulted a Standard Media Group correspondent as claimed by the media house based along Mombasa Road.
According to EACC, an unknown man appeared at the scene and began to take photos and videos of the arrest without authorisation. The detectives then asked him to identify themselves.
"A preliminary inquiry reveals that an unknown person who was visibly drunk appeared in the operation zone where EACC detectives were effecting an arrest of a police officer and started taking videos of the EACC officers as well as the Registration Details of the vehicles involved in the operation, without authority. Such conduct is not permissible due to the attendant security risks.
"On inquiry, the individual said that he was a journalist and refused to identify himself further. For the avoidance of doubt, no EACC officer assaulted anyone and such does not happen at EACC," the agency stated.
Officers attached to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) were on Thursday captured assaulting a Kitale-based Standard Media Group correspondent.
The journalist had reportedly been tipped off to the arrest of a traffic officer found taking bribes from motorists on Kitale-Kapenguria road, an episode he was determined to record. However, the law enforcement officials would have none of that and actively barred him from doing so to the extent of manhandling him.
Agitated by the journalist's resolve, the law enforcement officers threatened to rough him up some more if he did not back down.
“Introduce yourself first, you can not record us, I don't know you,” claimed one of the officers.
The scuffle led to an exchange of words between the EACC detectives and the journalist.
Aggrieved by the officers' hostility, the journalist reacted. He also questioned why they had turned their focus on him instead of proceeding with effecting the arrest.
Before the confrontation, the journalist could be seen interacting with some of the officers, and it was during the chats that the wrangles escalated.
Initially, the officers could be heard warning him against taking photos and recording videos, the officers then quickly notified their colleagues who confronted the journalist.
It is not the first time that a journalist has been assaulted or beaten up by law enforcement officers. In a similar scenario last year September, Royal Media journalists were openly assaulted by police officers while covering demonstrations in Nairobi's Lang'ata area.
In the video that trended on social media, a female police officer clad in a blue uniform confronted, shoved and threatened to beat up the journalists if they continued to cover the demonstrations.
“Remove your things there” the police officer could be heard shouting furiously at the reporters.
Efforts by the journalists to defend themselves bore no fruits as the police chased them away, to the extent of throwing away their equipment.
