Kenya: Editors' Guild Demands Speedy Probe On Deaths of 2 Journalists

Nairobi — The Kenya Editors' Guild (KEG) has called on the authorities to step up investigations into the deaths of two journalists who died under mysterious circumstances on diverse dates.

KEG President Churchill Otieno also urged investigating agencies to conduct a postmortem examination of the victims' bodies to establish the cause of death and shed light on the circumstances surrounding their deaths.

One of the victims, Gatonye Gathura, worked as a science editor at the Daily Nation and later as a writer at The Standard. Police reports indicate that Gathura's body was discovered on October 26, 2021, in Naivasha and has been lying at a local mortuary since then.

"At this point there is very scanty information about when and how he met his death," Otieno said.

Joshua Nanjero, another victim, worked as a cartoonist with the Nairobian newspaper. He was found dead in his house in Nairobi.

The Editor's Guild further appealed to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Hajji to order an inquest to be undertaken to establish the circumstances that led to their demise.

"Kenya Editors' Guild sends its deepest condolences to the families and wishes them comfort and strength, and commits to remain steadfast in doing everything possible to establish the circumstances surrounding the two deaths," the KEG President said.

The statement by KEG comes a week after a BBC journalist, Kate Mitchelle, was found dead in her hotel room on November 19.

According to Nairobi police boss Augustine Nthumbi, the journalist may have been strangled by a man she had been seen with earlier.

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"The police were called in and found the room locked from the inside. When the officers broke the door, their preliminary findings were that the lady had been killed by strangulation," he told Capital News on phone.

He revealed that Mitchelle may also have tried to sound an alarm during the struggle prompting the man whose body was also found on the ground floor to jump through the window as he fled.

"On further investigation, the officers found a broken window and when they looked through it, they saw the body of an African man Mitchelle had been seen with on the ground," he stated.

The reporter was attached to the BBC Media Action's office in Ethiopia which focuses on telling stories on unsafe and illegal migration, health and media development.

KEG is a not-for-profit professional organization that brings together senior print, broadcast, digital and other electronic media editors.

It seeks to: defend and promote media freedom and independence in Kenya; promote quality and ethical journalism; provide a forum for the discussion of the challenges facing the media and editors; and to network with other professional organizations, among other imperatives.