Kameme TV reporter Catherine Wanjeri wa Kariuki has sustained serious injuries while covering the ongoing anti-government protests in Nakuru County on Tuesday, July 16, 2024.
In a video shared by colleagues, Wanjeri is recorded writhing in pain down on the streets of Nakuru town with blood oozing from one of her thighs.
Preliminary reports indicate that Wanjeri was shot in the thigh three times while on duty covering protests that kicked off late in the afternoon in Nakuru.
She was hit by the bullets despite wearing a press gear which differentiated her from other protesters.
Scribes who were present at the time of the incident rushed her to a nearby hospital on board a motorbike. Wanjeri who also reports for Kameme FM was rushed to Valley Hospital in Nakuru where she is being attended to. She is set scheduled for an operation.
Kameme TV reporter injured in the ongoing anti-government protests in Nakuru County#K24Siasa pic.twitter.com/GW2Cpiprt9
— K24 TV (@K24Tv) July 16, 2024
The Kameme TV reporter was among a host of other reporters who had been deployed to cover events as they unfolded in Nakuru where police lobbed teargas to disperse a group of demonstrators who had converged in the city.
The security officers engaged the protesters in running battles rendering some of the streets within Nakuru town impassable.
Nakuru was among the areas that witnessed protests on Tuesday July 16, 2024. Other areas included Nairobi, Kajiado, Machakos, Kakamega, Eldoret, Karatina, Homa Bay and Kisumu.
Journalists injured in demos
On July 2, 2024, K24 TV journalist Joel Chacha was injured while covering the anti-government protests in Nairobi.
Chacha was hit by a tear gas canister that was lobbed by the police along Tom Mboya Street. He was seen holding onto his left leg which was bleeding while police continued to lob tear gas to disperse the protesters, and the injured journalist was helped by his colleagues to a safer place.
The incident came days after the Kenya Media Sector Working Group (KMSWG) condemned the incidences of brutality meted out against journalists during protests.
This was after some police officers were captured assaulting scribes in various parts of the country.
“The Kenya Media Sector Working Group, a coalition of media entities in Kenya, shocked beyond comfort over unprecedented violence police today meted on journalists who were deployed by media houses to inform Kenya about countrywide protests against Finance Bill 2024,” the statement reads in part.
AFP journalist Collins Olunga and Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) photographer John Omido are some of the journalists who sustained injuries during the June 25, 2024 protests.
Media Council of Kenya also condemned acts of brutality against journalists asking the police to execise their duty professionally.