A Kenyan freelance journalist was on Wednesday, May 6, arrested after she was accused of breaking Covid-19 safety measures.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, her colleague Ruth Mumbi disclosed that Beatrice Waithera and seven other people were roughed by police and taken into custody at Soweto Police Station.
The eight were holding a demonstration outside the Nairobi Water and Sewerage Services offices in Kayole, Nairobi, over water rationing.
"She had joined Kayole residents who had gone to the Nairobi Water office in Kayole to demand access to water because of this pandemic but the officers was not very friendly.
"They called police officers from a neighbouring police station to come and arrest them because they said that they were going against government directive on Covid-19. They were not many. They were about eight activists," stated Mumbi.
She added that they were charged with three charges including illegal assembly.
"They were charged with illegal assembly, creating a disturbance and going against the government directive on Covid-19. They are still being held at Soweto.
"They used a lot of force when they were arresting them," she added.
Area residents were complaining that boreholes dug to help supplement water supply in the area had been contaminated.
"They are now linking the water in the contaminated boreholes directly to homes. I was part of the team that tested that water. Two labs including Lancet says the water is not fit for human consumption," lamented a local activist.
