Douglas Kanja
The National Police Service (NPS) now says the arrest of veteran Journalist Macharia Gaitho was a case of mistaken identity.
In a statement, NPS said they wanted to arrest Francis Gaitho who is a subject of investigation but mistakenly arrested the renowned columnist.
“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,” read the statement in part.
NPS apologized for the incident noting that it does not target journalists and is committed to working with the media.
“We reiterate that as a Service, we do not target journalists in any way, and today’s incident is highly regrettable. The National Police Service remains committed to working with the media while discharging our mandate of promoting accountability and transparency,” NPS added.
Macharia Gaitho was arrested on Wednesday morning after he drove himself to the Karen Police Station.
The veteran journalist had driven to the station after noticing an unknown vehicle trailing him.
Macharia was bundled into a white Probox vehicle inside the police station by individuals in civilian clothes as a couple of police officers in uniform stood by and watched.
He was in the company of his son when he was arrested.
Macharia has since been freed after the vehicle that abducted him returned him to the Karen police Station.
“I’m with my dad Macharia Gaitho. He’s just been brought to Karen police station by the car that abducted him. He’s safe although they roughed him up a bit. We’re making the abduction report right now,” Macharia’s daughter Anita Gaitho stated.
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