KUJ wants police officer who shot journalist in Nakuru arrested, prosecuted within 7 days

The Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ) has condemned the shooting of a media practitioner attached to Mediamax Limited while covering the anti-government protests in Nakuru on Tuesday.

Catherine Kariuki, who sustained a gunshot injury to the thigh, is recuperating at a Nakuru hospital where she was rushed by her colleagues following the incident.

According to the KUJ, Ms. Kariuki’s fellow journalists termed the shooting as a “targeted attack” by a “rogue police officer.”

The union now wants the said officer arrested and prosecuted within the next one week, failure to which it will take the matters to the courts itself.

“We demand action against the trigger-happy police officer who targeted journalists who had been deployed by media houses to inform Kenyans. Such barbaric acts have no place in a democratic society like Kenya, where journalists are required to play the role of watchdog and source of credible information to citizens,” KUJ Secretary General Erick Oduor said in a statement.

“The Independent Policing Oversight (IPOA) must investigate the officer involved and source of orders to shoot journalists within seven days and prosecute the suspect, failure to which we will institute private prosecution of the officer involved and the commander of the Nakuru operation.”