Macharia Gaitho, a seasoned journalist, shared a chilling account of his recent ordeal from the Karen Police Station, where he had initially sought refuge. Gaitho explained that he had driven to the station after noticing a suspicious vehicle blocking his path as he left his residence.
“Upon entering the station premises, I realized two cars had followed me. Suddenly, unidentified men forced me into a white Probox waiting nearby,” Gaitho recalled.
He vividly described the intense moments that followed:
“I was sandwiched between two men in civilian clothes, I was handcuffed and I was assaulted. They kept demanding to know why I was resisting arrest, but I defended myself, saying, ‘I don’t know who you are, you have not identified yourselves.'”
The journalist detailed how his captors drove him along Lang’ata Road, eventually stopping near Lang’ata South Road. There, they engaged in several phone conversations. After these calls, they reversed course towards Karen, halting at a Shell petrol station in the Karen shopping centre.
Gaitho continued, “That is the time they asked for my ID and I gave it to them. They looked at it and asked, ‘You’re the same Francis Macharia Gaitho?’ I said ‘yes.'”
Alleged Case of Mistaken Identity
The situation took an unexpected turn when, after more phone calls, Gaitho’s captors claimed it was a case of mistaken identity.
“After another long call, they came back and the guy sitting behind was asked to remove my handcuffs. Then they told me it was a case of mistaken identity and that I am free to go,” he recounted.
Skeptical of this explanation, Gaitho decided to report the incident as an attempted abduction at the Karen Police Station. He expressed his doubts, stating,
“They did not explain how it could be mistaken identity, they did not explain how they could have trailed me right from near my home. So as far as I was concerned, those were still criminals.”
Gaitho revealed that he was advised to escalate the matter to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters, which he declined. He mentioned ongoing communication with law enforcement officials, saying,
“I got a call from the OCPD Lang’ata, she was telling me to go talk to her there. I said no, if she wants to talk to me she can come here. Now she has told me they are sending somebody to come and take my statement. That is what I am waiting for.”
The journalist expressed his belief that this incident was related to his work as a columnist. He firmly stated,
“We cannot sit back and watch Kenya descend into a lawless state.”
Kenya Editors Guild Voice Their Concerns
Zubeida Kananu, president of the Kenya Editors Guild (KEG), voiced her concern about the increasing attacks on journalists, seeing them as attempts to censor the media.
She pointedly asked, “We are not criminals, our work is to inform Kenyans on what is happening. When you handcuff a journalist without telling them the reason why, what really is your intention?”
