The Star newspaper correspondent for Turkana Hesborn Etyang was today assaulted by Stegra Hotel bouncers after taking photos of a child that was drowning in the hotel swimming pool.
According to reports, Etyang was holidaying in the hotel, when he saw the child that appeared to be drowning, then decided to take photos.
The hotel management accosted him and demanded that he deletes the photos, since if shared they would damage the reputation of the facility.
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“When I took the photos of the incident as it was my duty as a news reporter, the bouncers beat me up and squeezed my hand to make sure I had deleted the photographs,” Etyang narrated.
The journalist was later thrown out of the hotel, and his memory card damaged, and he is now seeking compensation for the same.
This is not the first case of journalists being assaulted by security apparatus, police or even civilians in their line of duty.
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In 2018 on August 12, Kenya Television Network (KTN) journalist Duncan Khaemba was reporting on violent post-election protests in Nairobi’s Kibera slum when he was arrested for allegedly possessing a helmet and body armor without a proper license.
Also on August 12, Neil Shea, a freelance journalist shooting a documentary in Kibera, told Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) he was attacked by four or five security officers who beat him and destroyed his camera.
Last year, Standard Media Group driver, cameraman- Bonny Magana and KTN News reporter Caroline Bii were attacked by St Stephens Girls secondary school students in Machakos, and their vehicle torched.
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