Hurt journalists recount brutal moments at the hands of police

Screams, loud bangs, choking teargas smoke, and chaos featured in live television broadcast on Wednesday during the 9pm News.

A group of journalists from across various media houses were at Kirobon High School in Nakuru County after former UDA Secretary General Cleophas Malala was blocked from meeting the Butere Girls drama team.

The Echoes of War playwright was heading to the school to prepare the students for their presentation on Thursday.

Police in Land Cruisers had surrounded Malala’s vehicle outside the gate.

Journalists in the live stream were seen scampering for their safety as others choked from the tear gas. Others dived to the nearby water drainages where they sought refuge.

Six journalists were injured.

“Let us move, they have thrown teargas at us in the night,” shouted Kennedy Gachuhi, a KTN reporter.

A teargas canister exploded behind NTV reporter Ruth Sarmoei, who at the time, was live on air.

Citizen TV’s Maryanne Nyambura was also live but confused and in shock after hearing the loud bang. She was,  however, instructed by her colleague Evans Asiba to continue reporting.

Amidst the confusion, smoke, and screams, Nyambura continued to report, before another teargas canister was thrown behind her and exploded.

She screamed live on air as she ran. A few moments later, she shouted that she had been hit on her back. As the live scenes were cut short and they were encouraged to seek safety, she was heard crying.

Nyambura said her mobile phone kept ringing as her siblings and parents kept calling.

“When I did not pick up my phone, my worried family members called my colleague Asiba for update,” she said.

The Citizen TV reporter said that police came to them after interviewing Malala and instructed them to leave. She said they could not, because they were preparing for 9pm live news.

Nyambura said that the police left them, regrouped, and the next thing they saw was tear gas thrown.

She described the scene as chaotic and ugly.

“I was assaulted, but the police kept pushing me and urging me to leave the scene. Sadly, I got injured. I am still traumatized,” she said.

Nyambura says she intends to record statements with the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA). She said she will have to go back to the hospital for further review.

“IPOA should do thorough investigations. It is not the first time a journalist has been assaulted, and it is sad to see what police officers become when they are brutal,” she said.

A few metres from where she was standing, Sarmoei was doing her live reporting. She did not know that teargas had been thrown behind her until she looked back and saw smoke. She started running.

She says two officers warned them to leave.

“One officer said we had done our work and it was time for them to do theirs.”

Sarmoei says when they went for equipment inside their vehicles, the police attempted to deny them access back to their colleagues.

“We sensed danger, but we did not expect the police to turn chaotic. They used excessive force on 14 harmless people,” recounted Sarmoei.

She wonders what was going through the minds of their relatives who saw them live on air crying at night.

“They assaulted some of our colleagues and became violent. We did nothing wrong and we were only doing our work,” she said.

Sarmoei observed that six of the victims were ladies who found it hard to run in the dark and had to be assisted.

Standard Photographer Joseph Kipsang was pushed into a ditch. He got injured, and his camera broke.

Kipsang says that one of the officers he could not identify pushed him to the ditches, where his right leg was trapped.

“Everyone was running away in multiple directions, not knowing where the next teargas would hit. It is very unfortunate and unforgivable,” said Kipsang.

He says he has worked in the media for over a decade but had never experienced tear gas thrown at night.

As if that same was not enough, the brutality continued on Thursday morning when police officers barred journalists from covering the Butere girls.

When the girls boycotted to play, the police escorted them outside the hall in Melvin Jones Nakuru.

Residents and other students protested in support of the girls, but police tear gassed them when they alighted their bus to vent their issues.

The police tear-gassed the protesters, the students, and the journalists covering the same. Girls scampered to safety while others entered the bus.

The trauma got to some, who started crying and continued venting.