Macharia Gaitho Says Police Wanted to Arrest Him: “Not Mistaken Identity”

Veteran journalist Macharia Gaitho says he doubts police mistook him for blogger and activist Francis Gaitho.

The journalist said the abduction by police on Wednesday morning was a traumatising experience.

Gaitho was speaking to the press moments after he was released.

The veteran journalist said he is twice the age of Francis and believes the detectives were hell-bent on arresting him instead.

“I don’t believe I was mistaken for Francis Gaitho, as I am twice his age. Also, he doesn’t live where I live and doesn’t drive a car like mine. It is me they were trailing and looking for,” Gaitho said.

The journalist the incident left distressed.

“It is extremely traumatising because when you are abducted by unknown people who do not identify themselves, it is alarming,”

“When I asked them to identify themselves, they told me they have a Subaru, so I should know they are police and that they have guns,”

“I told them anyone can drive a Subaru; it is not a preserve of the police. Secondly, all criminals have guns; therefore, that is not an identity. They refused to show their ID.” Gaitho added.

Kenya Police had admitted they made a mistake after arresting the veteran journalist.

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.