Karua, ODM and top leaders condemn abduction of Standard Group editor Alex Kiprotich

Kiprotich was accosted by armed men along the Gilgil–Nakuru Road on Tuesday night and later found dumped near Masinga Dam on Wednesday morning.

This was his second encounter with abductors, as in June this year, Kiprotich survived an attempted abduction and reported the matter at Menengai Police Station.

The Standard Group later said its investigations had linked the vehicle involved in the June incident to officers attached to the National Police Service’s Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau in Nakuru.

People's Liberation Party (PLP) leader Martha Karua has condemned the incident, warning that such cases should not disappear without accountability because they encourage impunity in the country. 

She said the pattern of abduction evokes the politics of fear and intimidation that characterized Kenya's darker past. 

"We know this dark chapter of our history. During the Moi era, abduction, detention, and intimidation were used to instil fear and silence those who challenged power. Kenyans fought for multiparty democracy and a new constitutional order precisely because we rejected that way of governing. We cannot allow those methods to continue," she said.

Likewise, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) condemned the culture of abductions in the nation, warning it can plunge the nation into anarchy.

"As a party that has for years since its formation, been championing for the rights of the people and the respect for human rights and dignity, we ask the relevant authorities to investigate the circumstances that led to the events of last night," it wrote.

The Kenya African National Union (KANU), through its Secretary General George Wainaina, has reckoned that Kiprotich's ordeal is not an isolated incident that can be dismissed, saying that national media is under rising threat of being attacked for executing its mandate.

"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," read a statement from KANU.

"It must be stated in no uncertain terms that the abduction of a journalist is a direct assault on media freedom and the rule of law. We reject, in all its manifestations, the attempt to normalize intimidation, unlawful detention or abduction of journalists for speaking truth to power."

Kiharu Member of Parliament, on his part, has called for an investigation into the abduction, terming it "crude, diabolical and heinous"

"Journalism must be allowed to thrive unhindered, and the state must stop the intimidation. We demand justice for Alex Kiprotich. Justice NOW," he said on X.

Standard Group Chief Executive Officer Chaacha Mwita has narrated that he received a distress call from a colleague at around 9:20 p.m., informing him that Kiprotich had been abducted.

Shortly after, a Standard Group security team was deployed, police stations in Nakuru and Nairobi were alerted, and the Group reported the matter across its platforms.

The anxious search came to an end in the early hours of Wednesday after the Standard Group received information that Kiprotich had been dumped near Masinga Dam. 

The abductors had reportedly told him that he was in Baringo and instructed him not to wake up until he was told to do so. Kiprotich later sought refuge at a nearby home, which offered him shelter and a phone to contact his colleagues and company.

"The people who had abducted him had switched off his phone. There was no way of reaching him, which added another layer of trauma around this. Fortunately, at around 3:00am we received a call that Alex had been dropped in one of the thickets at the edges of Masinga Dam," Mwita added.

A Standard Group team led by Mwita later travelled to the area and located him at around 6:30 a.m. 

The media house said Kiprotich was safe, although understandably shaken by the ordeal, with Mwita expressing his gratitude to the family that took in the journalist and to those who supported efforts to locate him.

He also described the incident as a deeply disturbing attack on press freedom, questioning the State's commitment to protect journalists and media freedom as guaranteed by the Constitution. 

The latest incident has renewed concerns over the safety of journalists in Kenya, with media and human rights organisations calling for investigations and accountability.