The Kenya African National Union (KANU) has condemned the reported abduction of The Standard Group Associate Editor Alex Kiprotich, demanding an independent and transparent investigation into the incident and an earlier alleged attempt to abduct him.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, KANU Secretary General George Wainaina described the incident as “brazen and disturbing”, warning that the abduction could not be dismissed through routine assurances and expressions of concern.
Wainaina said Kiprotich had survived an attempted abduction in June and reported the matter at Menengai Police Station, but alleged that no action was taken to identify those responsible.
“This is not an isolated incident that can be dismissed with the usual assurances and expressions of concern,” Wainaina said.
KANU said the reported abduction of a journalist amounted to a direct assault on media freedom and the rule of law.
The party rejected what it described as attempts to normalise intimidation, unlawful detention and abduction of journalists for speaking truth to power.
“No person should be subjected to arbitrary detention or simply made to disappear. Abduction cannot be an instrument of law enforcement. It is a violation of the law,” Wainaina said.
The party demanded a thorough, independent and transparent investigation into both the latest reported abduction and the earlier incident reported at Menengai Police Station.
KANU further called for anyone found culpable to be identified and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
The party said media freedom was not a concession granted by those in power but a constitutional right that all institutions exercising public authority had an obligation to protect.
“Media freedom is not a concession from those in power but a constitutional right, and protecting it is an obligation of every institution entrusted with public authority,” Wainaina said.
Kiprotich was abducted by armed men along Nairobi-Nakuru highway and later dumped in Masinga area, Machakos County together with his driver.
The motive of the incident is yet to be known but many link it to the ongoing coverage by the media house.
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