Murders, detentions and armed raids: Wars that media has fought across the decades

Journalists cover a previous handover event at the Sports Ministry. [Jonah Onyango, Standard, Standard] I sat quietly behind my typewriter. I had been scratching my head for close to half an hour trying to get an intro to my feature article on insecurity in Kenya's northeastern province. My colleague Muasya joked that I should get a shot of brandy to wake up my 'sleepy head'. I was just about to rise from my seat and take a walk within the office compound when four policemen walked in. Armed with G3 rifles, they entered the Kenya News Agency offices and without uttering a word handcuffed me. My protests earned me a brutal punch that almost broke my nose. Bleeding profusely, I was pushed into the back seat of a Land Rover and driven away. Terror gripped me. My head was reeling. Kenya was then in the grip of authoritarian single party rule. Being arrested was an ominous sign. Your corpse could end up in a river or sewer. You could vanish without trace. Many had been arrested never to be seen again. Terrifying encounter One of the askaris sadistically pushed the muzzle of his gun into my rib cage. He appeared not to realise that the vehicle might hit a bumpy stretch, causing the weapon to discharge. The five-kilometre ride remains one of my longest and most terrifying ever. The stifling heat did not help. We eventually arrived at the provincial commissioner's office. I was led into the board room where several leaders, all men, sat with grim faces. "Here is the idiot," hissed one of them. "So, you are the one endangering State security through your reckless writing?" sneered Provincial Commissioner Amos Bore. "Sir, I have no idea what you are talking about. When and how did I endanger State security?" "Shut up," shouted an overzealous cop, slapping me across the face. Then a commanding voice boomed from across the room. "That is enough. Leave the boy alone. He is simply doing his job, and a good one at that." Everyone turned round, stunned. It was John Kariuki, my boss, the Provincial Information Officer. "This young man is doing a great job of documenting development projects in North Eastern Province. We should not demonise development journalism." What Kariuki had just done was unheard of. Defending a junior staff and defying members of the provincial security committee was an abomination. But he had earned his respect as a firm and courageous man. The room fell into deafening silence. Then, Bore cleared his throat and said: "Let this be the last warning. If you continue writing stories that show the government in bad light, I will personally deal with you." My handcuffs were removed and I was roughly escorted out of the room. Decades later, I still don't know what crime I committed or what story they were referring to. However, I have learned one thing: that authoritarian regimes are allergic to criticism of any kind. They live in perpetual fear of a strong and independent media. Today, I shudder to think what would have happened to me if Moses Kuria, the Cabinet Secretary for Investments, Trade and Industry, was among the grim-faced men I faced while in handcuffs. I might have found myself in Kamiti Maximum Prison, if I was lucky to be alive. Since independence, Kenya has had its fair share of the likes of Kuria; men foaming at the mouth, spewing venom and vomiting threats. Kuria's hatred for the media seems to get support from Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, and a few other members of the William Ruto administration. Addressing graduands at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology on Friday, Gachagua praised Kuria's outburst against the Nation Media Group. "You have seen nothing. We want to ask leaders in this country to join Moses Kuria to hold the press to account... It is good you are now feeling the way we feel. You have been hitting us left right and centre. Nobody has ever held you to account. Now Moses Kuria ameuliza nyinyi maswali tatu tu. Now you are all over you are crying," the DP crowed. When former First Lady the late Mama Lucy Kibaki stormed Nation Media group. [File, Standard] Gachagua once told a forum: "These media people are Azimio people. They joined Azimio and are part of Azimio. They joined Azimio to write fake headlines that William Ruto has no chance". Kuria threatened to tighten the noose that Kenya's fourth President Uhuru Kenyatta had placed around the neck of private media houses. Uhuru's Jubilee administration established a government advertising agency through which all government advertising is channeled. It became a weapon of blackmail and arm-twisting. Any media house that was critical to his government would be starved and denied advertising. Hundreds of journalists have since been rendered jobless as media houses struggle with dwindling revenues. Senior opposition and government officials have over the years threatened journalists with physical harm. They have termed them cartels that must be crushed. Even opposition leader Raila Odinga has not been immune. There are moments in the past when he has singled out certain journalists and media houses for attack in public rallies. This year, he called on his supporters to boycott The Star newspaper, which he accused of bias. With his massive following, such utterances can be misinterpreted by some followers to actually cause bodily harm to journalists from the mentioned media houses. During street demos organised by the Azimio coalition in early 2023, several journalists were brutally beaten and seriously injured. Some of them suffered permanent scars from teargas canisters lobbed by policemen into their vehicles. The Inspector General of Police, Japheth Koome, described the attacks on journalists as part of their occupational hazard. All presidents have had their beef with the media. But Uhuru's disdain and contempt was extreme. He once told a rally; "What we are reading is rubbish. So, what I said that newspapers are for wrapping meat is true." When Uhuru's father, Jomo Kenyatta ruled, Kenya was a newly independent nation. After the departure of the British in the early 1960s, Jomo and his ilk took up roles of 'saviours'. They became untouchable and beyond reproach. His powers were massive. Like the biblical kings, his tongue held the power of life and death. No editor or media house dared to openly take on Jomo. He could easily summon the foreign owners of media houses and breath down fire on them. Jomo retained the colonial laws of detention without trial, which he used liberally. The main media houses then were The Standard, the Nation, and the State-owned Voice of Kenya (VoK). The few voices that dared oppose Jomo's policies were quickly muffled and individuals thrown behind bars. The media was so terrified of Jomo that when he died, the Head of Civil Service Geoffrey Kareithi had to give the VoK leadership a written official note for the broadcaster to agree to announce his demise. Daniel arap Moi inherited Jomo's powers and amassed even more. He, however, faced hostility from some Central Kenya leaders who had vowed that political power would never leave Kikuyu land. They claimed that since members of the Kikuyu community suffered massive land losses from the colonial powers, they had earned the right to own Kenya. Moi was therefore terrified by any negative media reporting. He wanted to have total control over the media owners and editors. Just like in Jomo's time, secret police were seconded to private media houses, the Nation and The Standard. They operated as reporters, photographers or drivers. They constantly spied on their 'colleagues' and fed the State and the ruling party with day-to-day operations. An investigative reporter would get warnings to drop his or her line of inquiry. Others would receive orders from their bosses that a story they were following was no longer needed. The Kanu regime also launched a massive campaign against media-enhancing technology. When the fax machines came to Kenya, Kanu leaders would use public rallies to condemn the fax machine as "tools being used by the enemies of state to foment animosity against peace-loving wananchi"! The media and opposition became bolder during the Moi administration. With support from the West, civil society organisations sprouted and ganged up with independent media to demand expansion of freedoms. Freedom of movement, association and speech, which many take for granted today, were worth dying for. And many did indeed die fighting for these freedoms. The question Moses Kuria posed to the Nation Media Group, that they should decide whether they are a media entity or opposition, stems from the Kanu days. The front foot-soldiers in Kanu's heyday were illiterate and semi-literate men such as Kariuki Chotara, Ezekiel Bargetuny, Shariff Nassir and Mulu Mutisya. Their word held so much sway it could earn one a prison sentence. When the opposition voices attempted to belittle the ruling party Kanu, Nassir reminded Kenyans that Kanu was indeed the government. He argued that Kanu was actually superior to Parliament. "Wapende wasipende" (whether they like it or not), Kanu was above all and will rule Kenya." said Nassir. Nassir was however gentler with the media than his counterparts. Copies of The Standard strewn all over following the raid on March 2, 2006. [File, Standard] Mulu Mutisya had immense powers. In Ukambani, he was the kingmaker. He could decide who should be a legislator and who should stay in the cold. Mulu once described press men as "bastards born by the road side". Then there was the Embakasi Member of Parliament David Mwenje, who always referred to journalists as "tumundu twa Ngatheti", a diminutive and derogatory reference. To him, journalists were mere rodents or vermin. Mwenje had his own hooligans known as Jeshi la Mwenje (Mwenje's Army). They bullied and harassed not just his opponents but any journalist who was deemed to write articles that didn't favour him. Beatings, muggings, torture and even murder of journalists was common in the Jomo Kenyatta and Moi regimes. During my tour of duty at the Nation, I visited all police stations in the eight provinces. Whenever we went for assignment, we would at times find the police waiting for us, ready to stop us from doing our work. I have never recovered from the incarceration and torture I suffered at the hands of the police in Garissa. I suffered many nights of beatings and torture. The provincial and district administration had condemned and denied a story I wrote for the Daily Nation about bandits raiding the provincial commissioner's residence. A Moses Kuria in the provincial administration convinced Moi that the story was a fabrication. Moi, while addressing a rally in Nanyuki, condemned my story and journalists working at the Nation. "Hawa vinyangarika wa magazeti wanaandika uongo na porojo. Juzi wameandika eti kuna vita huko Garissa. Hawa hata mama yao akiwa uchi wanatangazia dunia mzima, kujeni muone." On that night, my house was raided and I was taken into police custody. Media raids During the Nyayo era, media houses were raided. Others were closed down by rogue police. Many journalists such as Wahome Mutahi (Whispers), Njuguna Mutonya, David Makali, Bedan Mbugua, among others, were tortured and detained. Today, former Citizen TV investigative reporter Purity Mwambia is suffering in exile where she fled to following threats on her life. She had exposed rogue policemen trading with their official guns. Others such as John Allan Namu, Dennis Onsarigo and Mohammed Ali, when he was in Jicho Pevu investigative unit, had at one time or another to go into hiding during Mwai Kibaki's regime. The Church joined the civil society to rally support for citizens and fight for freedom and expansion of democratic space. In 2007-2008, however, the media were accused of being used by politicians to fuel ethnic animosity which led to the post-election violence. Former Kass FM broadcaster Joshua arap Sang found himself among the Ocampo six, who were taken to the International Criminal Court to face crimes against humanity charges. In the 2022 freedom of the press index, Kenya ranked 116, a drop of 47 places from the previous years. "In Africa, Kenya ranks top in freedom of the press. It's number one in East Africa," says the Media Council of Kenya CEO David Omwoyo. Shariff killing On October 23, 2022, police in Kajiado shot and killed a decorated Pakistani investigative journalist Arshad Shariff. Shariff was a critic of both the government and military in Pakistan. He fled in 2022 following threats to his life. His death remains a stain on Kenya. A Pakistani investigative report indicated his death was not an issue of mistaken identity as purported by the police in Kenya, but a planned assassination. I will never forget that night, in 1988, when armed policemen broke my door in the dead of night. With blood gushing from my nose and mouth, I was bundled into a waiting vehicle. While at the Rift Valley Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters in Nakuru, I was told that while covering the 1988 General Election, I committed an abominable act against Kanu. I covered a leader hostile to Kanu and even gave him a lift in a government vehicle. A day before my dramatic arrest, I gave a lift to an MP from Molo, in our KNA Land Rover, to a political rally where the legislator used figures of speech and songs to deride the Mlolongo queue voting system. In 1994, while covering political rallies in western Kenya, I found myself on the wrong side of Moi's temper. I was driving in the president's entourage when he suddenly stopped at Moi's Bridge and stepped out of his limousine to address the crowd that had gathered. With my notebook in hand, I moved closer. He turned in my direction and asked; "Wapi mtu wa Nation?" I raised my right hand up. "Wewe ndio unaandika porojo na uongo?" He yelled. Later, during a campaign rally in Lumakanda, he summoned me to the dais. With his firm and powerful grip, the president held my hand and introduced me to the crowd; "Juzi tu huyu kijana alikua akiniimbia nyimbo za sifa. Sasa anafanya kazi na gazeti ya ukabila kuniharibia jina" He paused then asked me, "Hii watu unaona ni wangapi?" "Ni wengi mtukufu Rais" I responded, "Sio wengi, ni maelfu". Enda andika hiyo," he commanded. I went back to my corner behind the President. Two presidential guards approached me and said: "Mzee amesema tukushike. Tutakufuata hadi border ya Webuye na Kakamega. Tukikuflash ujue tumekuachilia." Overzealous policemen took Moi's statement to mean that I was a wanted man and was therefore to be arrested and incarcerated. On the World Press Freedom Day on May 3, 2005, Kenyans woke up to live images of First Lady Lucy Kibaki on camera terrorising journalists and editors at the Nation Centre. Says Swaleh Mdoe; "A fuming and angry First Lady, stormed the Nation Centre in the middle of the night. Mama Lucy was angered by a story in the media which said she interrupted a party at the home of World Bank Country Director Makhtar Diop. Diop was a tenant of the Kibakis and lived next to the president's private home in upmarket Muthaiga. Diop, who was entertaining his guests agreed to halt the performance, but witnesses said Mama Lucy had tried to unplug the amplifiers complaining that the music was too loud." The First Lady, holding a copy of The Standard, demanded the arrest of the reporter and editor who filed the story of her visit to Muthaiga Police station. She confiscated notebooks, pens, cameras and tape recorders from journalists who were following her protests. She slapped KTN freelance cameraman Clifford Derick, who was recording her. Attack on Standard On March 2, 2006, a group of hooded men armed with assault rifles burst into The Standard's printing plant on Likoni Road and KTN's offices at I & M building in the Nairobi Central Business District. They took computers and transmission equipment. They damaged the printing press and set ablaze tens of thousands of newspapers that were ready to go to the market. The New York Times said: "Masked Officers Raid TV Station and Newspaper Plant in Kenya" The reporter, Marc Lacey, wrote: "Dozens of masked officers knocked a TV station off the air in an early morning raid in the Kenyan capital today before moving to a newspaper plant, where they disabled the printing press and torched thousands of papers. The crackdown on the country's second-largest media company came after the government jailed three of its journalists this week over a recent story on political intrigue involving President Mwai Kibaki. Mr Kibaki, elected in 2002, has experienced a flurry of critical press coverage in recent weeks as his administration has grappled with corruption allegations and political infighting." Mdoe says that before the raid on the Standard Group, "police arrested three Standard journalists - Weekend Editions Managing Editor Chaacha Mwita, News Editor Dennis Onyango and Reporter Ayub Savula, over a report that appeared on the Saturday edition alleging that Kibaki held secret talks with Kalonzo Musyoka, a former minister who was fired for campaigning against a draft constitution during the 2005 Constitutional Referendum." Stephen Muiruri, a former crime editor at Nation, says in his forthcoming book that the raid at the Standard was planned and executed by the Kanga, an elite police squad. The Kanga Squad was an amorphous unit that hunted down dangerous criminals like carjackers, bank robbers, drug barons and organised gangs. High level orders The Kanga Squad was heavily equipped and provided with top range vehicles. It was entrusted in the top state secret to raid the Standard. Muiruri says that even the police boss, Major Gen Mohamed Hussein Ali, was kept in the dark when the whole operation was being planned and executed. A senior police officer had hinted to Muiruri that a major operation was about to unfold. Some powerful forces, he said, were unhappy with the "dangerous" line the media had taken in reporting the presidency. The police had been tasked to cut them down to size. He disclosed that influential people in government were unhappy with the Standard newspapers. Some leaders convinced Kibaki that the media were undermining his government. Kibaki chaired a top-level meeting at State House, Nairobi with his inner circle and several security chiefs. "Those present were deeply angered by the media, accusing it of turning against President Kibaki and trying to undermine his new administration by reporting explosive matters on his family, his health and corruption scandals rocking his top aides," the source told Muiruri. Kibaki chaired the meeting that ordered the raid on the Standard. It must be remembered that the Jubilee administration of Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto shut down several television stations for weeks, a cruel act that would have shaken even Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel arap Moi to the core. So, when Moses Kuria confidently uses foul language and threatens journalists, he is speaking for the government. Kenya's history of the media and the state gives us enough worrying signs that the media risk being handcuffed and "placed behind bars" by grim faced men. It, however, has always emerged victorious. It behoves us all to stand up against an oppressive regime and leaders such as Moses Kuria.

Murders, detentions and armed raids: Wars that media has fought across the decades

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