Three Kenyan journalists said on Thursday they spent the night in their newsroom in fear of arrest, as they watched plainclothes policemen camped outside their office.
Their station, NTV, was one of three independently owned stations shut down by Kenyan authorities on Tuesday after they broadcast live coverage of an opposition ceremony symbolically “swearing in” opposition leader Raila Odinga.
“We were doing our job, we had the right to do this, and if I was to do it again, I’d do it the same way,” NTV senior anchor and reporter Ken Mijungu told Reuters.
He said his colleagues, Larry Madowo and Linus Kaikai, had all been independently warned by security sources on Wednesday that their arrest was imminent.
In the early evening, when men they believed were plainclothes police appeared outside their office building, they were advised by the station’s management to stay inside.
“Our head of security said he has reason to believe they have gone for reinforcements,” said Madowo, who was producing coverage on Tuesday before authorities took NTV off air.
Kaikai, who is also chairman of the Kenya Editors’ Guild, said editors had been warned by authorities that they could be shut down if they covered the event.
The stations would stay off air indefinitely, the government said on Wednesday, as it investigates the symbolic oath by Odinga, directly challenging President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Interior Minister Fred Matiang‘i accused media organisations of facilitating the “illegal act”, which he said put the lives of thousands of Kenyans at risk.
“This is a gross abuse of the law and complete disregard for the constitution,” said Mijungu.
