THE FCAEA CONDEMNS THE BRUTAL MURDER OF JOURNALIST JOHN KITUYI IN KENYA AND CALLS ON AUTHORITIES TO BRING HIS KILLERS TO JUSTICE
Nairobi, 3 May, 2015 – The Foreign Correspondents' Association of East Africa condemns the brutal murder of journalist John Kituyi in Eldoret, western Kenya, on Thursday, 30 April, and calls on authorities to bring his killers to justice.
According to news reports, Kituyi was walking home from work on Thursday evening when attacked by unknown assailants. The attackers hit Kituyi repeatedly with a blunt object; he died from his injuries soon after the attack. The assailants took the journalist's phone, but according to a statement from the Committee to Protect Journalists, did not take his money or watch.
Kituyi, in his 60s, ran the Eldoret-based Mirror Weekly paper, which is distributed in the Rift Valley and western Kenya. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, several local journalists and a family member said that they suspected Kituyi had been targeted in connection with a story that ran in theMirror Weekly last week headlined "Now ICC plot to jail Ruto".
The FCAEA calls on the authorities in Eldoret to proceed quickly to identify and prosecute Kituyi's killers.[[[The FCAEA welcomes the confirmation by Langas Station Head Esther Muhoro that police in Eldoret are investigating the case]]]
On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May, the FCAEA also expresses concern at a range of threats to press freedom in the region. The association's concerns extend to – but are not limited to – the ongoing imprisonment of journalists in Ethiopia, the violent attacks on media professionals in Somalia (including last week's murder of a radio journalist and his wife in Baidoa) and the harassment of news outlets in Burundi in advance of scheduled elections in May and June.
