Kenya Police Apologise After Arresting Veteran Journalist Macharia Gaitho: “Mistaken Identity”

Kenya Police have confirmed they made a mistake after arresting veteran journalist Macharia Gaitho.

They revealed that they were on the hunt for controversial blogger Francis Gaitho instead.

In a statement, police said the arrest was regrettable and confirmed that vocal social media user Francis Gaitho is the subject of investigations.

“The National Police Service would like to clarify to the public that this morning, we arrested journalist Macharia Gaitho in a case of mistaken identity, meant for the arrest of Francis Gaitho who is our subject of investigation. We reiterate that as a Service, we do not target journalists in any way, and today’s incident is highly regrettable,” the statement read.

The Police Service said they are committed to working with the media in discharging their mandate.

‘The National Police Service remains committed to working with the media while discharging our mandate of promoting accountability and transparency.” Police said.

The arrest of Macharia Video was caught in a video footage and shared online.

The dramatic arrest showed the veteran journalist being roughed up by police before being taken to Karen police station.

Anita Gaitho, the journalist’s daughter recalled how he was roughed up by the police before being arrested.

“Once they handcuffed him and put him in the Probox, they drove away from Karen police station, onto Lang’ata road. They were punching and slapping him, saying he’s resisting arrest. Still hadn’t identified themselves but said “Can’t you see we’re armed and had a Subaru”. She said.