GSU Officers on Spot After Reportedly Beating Standard Group Journalist During Protest Coverage

Nakuru-based reporter Daniel Chege (Inset) and police officers

In a disturbing incident that has raised concern over press freedom, a journalist attached to the Standard Group was assaulted by General Service Unit officers on Sunday as he covered protests in Molo, Nakuru County. 

The protests broke out following the gruesome murder of Richard Otieno, a local activist whose body was found in the mortuary.

According to reports, the attack happened when Nakuru-based reporter Daniel Chege was covering the protest. 

Chege and his team had been observing all measures, including identifications that proved they were journalists. However, the GSU officers became hostile in their actions.

At the time of the attack, Chege was capturing an incident where a police officer had reportedly hit a protester with a stone.

''We went to cover the protests along Njoro Molo road was hacked to death on Saturday night, and unfortunately, some GSU officers who had been teargassing the members of the public attacked us and injured me on my left arm,'' Chege said.

File image of GSU officers 

The journalist also described how the officers attempted to prevent them from covering the protest. 

“They came to us and the first question was what we were doing there, even though they could see we were from the media,” Chege explained. The officers allegedly struck him with police buttons and ordered the team to leave the scene.

The protest was organized by the residents seeking justice for the late Richard Otieno, popularly known as Molo President, whose body was found after unknown people attacked him with an axe on Saturday evening. 

His mysterious death culminated in grief and anger as hundreds took to the streets to demonstrate.

In a similar case last year, Catherine Wanjeri, a reporter for Media Max's Kameme TV, was shot three times by police while covering protests in the Nakuru Central Business District. 

The attack on Wanjeri, which left her seriously injured, sparked widespread outrage from the media and civil rights groups, raising serious questions about the safety of journalists in the region.