{"id":76967,"date":"2024-08-11T12:05:38","date_gmt":"2024-08-11T12:05:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2024\/08\/11\/media-leaders-push-for-prosecution-of-rogue-police-officers-as-nps-decries-misinformation\/"},"modified":"2024-08-11T12:05:38","modified_gmt":"2024-08-11T12:05:38","slug":"media-leaders-push-for-prosecution-of-rogue-police-officers-as-nps-decries-misinformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/media-leaders-push-for-prosecution-of-rogue-police-officers-as-nps-decries-misinformation\/","title":{"rendered":"Media leaders push for prosecution of rogue police officers as NPS decries misinformation"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 11 \u2014 Media sector leaders have called for the prosecution of police officers who attacked journalists during the recent protests witnessed across the country.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Media Council of Kenya CEO David Omwoyo sustained the call for accountability in a dialogue forum convened in Naivasha on Saturday even as government decried what it termed as misinformation.<\/p>\n

Omwoyo condemned attacks against journalists affirming the critical place of media in democracy and governance.<\/p>\n

Speaking during the Government and Media Leaders Dialogue, Omwoyo said the press had recorded twenty-four recorded cases of police brutality against journalists.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have 24 cases recorded and reported of journalist attacks by police. We haven\u2019t seen any prosecution as yet. Investigations are either ongoing or evidence gathering,\u201d Omwoyo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to stop branding the media as being anti-government while the media should also play its rightful role within the prescribed standards. The media industry pursues a common goal and we need to work together. There must be a framework of engagement between media and government in order to create impact based on our respective mandates.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said there is need of developing a mechanism for editors and government to constantly dialogue in order to improve relations.<\/p>\n

He called for \u201ccommon ground between government and media and not blame games as both need each other for the good of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kenya Editors Guild President Zubeidah Kananu said editors will remain relentless in calling for an end to attacks and threats against journalists despite.<\/p>\n

She protested the lack of substantial progess amid heightened violence against journalists.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe nevertheless hope that appropriate action [will be] taken against those attacking journalists. At the same time, the media industry needs to align ethical conduct with the current times,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

National Police Spokesperson Resilla Onyango defended the service decrying misinformation about law enforcement especially during riotous situations and relationship with the media.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe relationship with the media is under the police service standing orders and is taken very seriously,\u201d she stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolice officers do not target the media and when this happens they have to be investigated by the Internal Affairs Unit and Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA).\u201d<\/p>\n

The spokesperson however assured of action for any violations.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody is above the law. Let us not vilify the entire police force when a few officers make mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The forum came against the backdrop of attacks on journalists during the Gen-Z protests intensified as several journalists sustained injuries of varying magnitudes.<\/p>\n

ODM leader Raila Oding on Saturday said their is need to uphold the rights to peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, and the protection of journalists\u2019 rights which he descried as fundamental to Kenya\u2019s democracy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese actions are not only unacceptable but also a direct violation of the rights enshrined in our Constitution,\u201d he said.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 11 \u2014 Media sector leaders have called for the prosecution of police officers who attacked journalists during the recent protests witnessed across the country. Media Council of Kenya CEO David Omwoyo sustained the call for accountability in a dialogue forum convened in Naivasha on Saturday even as government decried what it termed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76967\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}