The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has apologised over an attack on two journalists by goons at the party’s headquarters on Thursday.
In a statement, ODM leader Raila Odinga’s campaign spokesperson Makau Mutua said the party and the Azimio la Umoja coalition have zero tolerance for violence.
“The leadership of ODM has always fought and continues to fight for a free press and was at the forefront of the struggle (for) the 2010 Constitution, which among other laws protects the freedom of expression, association and expressive rights,” the statement said.
ODM director of communications Philip Etale said the party was investigating the matter.
“(Those) who were involved will be held accountable. We apologise to the two journalists and the entire media fraternity,” Mr Etale said.
The two journalists – Mr Moses Nyamori of The Standard and Mr Luke Awich of The Star – were attacked because of their stories published on March 17.
The incident sparked uproar in the media fraternity, with a call for political parties to respect the work of journalists.
The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) urged Mr Odinga to disown the violence.
“The Media Council of Kenya calls on the ODM leadership, Mr Raila Odinga, who was at the event, to disown the acts of violence against the media and commit to non-interference in the work of media workers.”
The Kenya Parliamentary Journalists Association also demanded to know how the goons gained access to the party headquarters.
“ODM should explain how the goons gained access to the party headquarters and must assure journalists of their security whenever called upon to cover news conferences,” read the statement.
The Kenya Union of Journalists also urged politicians to guarantee journalists security when they are covering party events.
“We will hold conveners of press conferences and organisers of political rallies liable,” said the Secretary-General of the union Eric Oduor.
“No amount of harassment and intimidation will stop journalists from carrying out their duty professionally in line with the code of conduct that guides their work.”
In a similar incident last week, two journalists from NTV were also attacked by goons during Azimio la Umoja campaigns in Nairobi. BY DAILY NATION