lot that happened in this General Election is yet to be told. Majority of elected Members of Parliament are still strangers to Kenyans, we continue to dig out information on them because they were never covered during campaigns," said Mr Maina. Journalists were also subjected to hostilities orchestrated by political players and Government agents during the campaigns and some even lost valuable equipment. In the run to political parties' primaries and after some journalists were victims of violence directed to them by state security agents and politicians. For instance, police officers unleashed terror on Nation Media Group journalists in the politically charged Kibera slums. The journalists are still waiting for justice, as investigations are still ongoing. A journalist who asked not to be named was on assignment in Kibera when the officers descended on them to protest media coverage of confrontation between them (officers) and supporters of Orange Democratic Movement, a day after chaotic party primaries. The journalists were clobbered and lost a camera, memory card and cash. Like other professionals, journalists are not immune from infiltration by quacks and security agents especially in an election year, where crooks takes advantage of unsuspecting politicians and the public to engage in unethical practices. While the Media Council of Kenya has been accrediting journalists across the country to weed out quacks and instill discipline, campaign rallies and press conferences called by political players attracted dozens of fake newspeople who take advantage to engage in unprofessional activities. For instance, during the launch of The National Alliance, at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre and release of Jubilee coalition election manifesto, journalists were accredited journalists to bar crooks from infiltrating the functions. Journalists also complained of security agents who masqueraded as members of the Fourth Estate. These security agents monitored the work of journalists and
The journalists were clobbered and lost a camera, memory card and cash in some cases followed them to social places to gather intelligence reports. These acts infringed on the privacy of journalists and prevented journalists from discharging their duties. In Parliament for instance, journalists protested when the Media Centre was invaded by security agents who exposed their work to a third party without their consent. Media ownership and open support for various media outlets opened floodgates for intimidation and segregation of journalists over perceived bias. For example, when Royal Media Services proprietor SK Macharia was named a member of the CORD Summit for, Citizen TV crew started experiencing hostile reception from supporters of other political parties. Royal Media Services journalists were denied access to Moi Avenue Primary Polling station by suspected supporters of The National Alliance (TNA) because the station was deemed to be supporting CORD presidential candidate Raila Odinga. The journalists had arrived at the polling station during the TNA nomination before the unruly party supporters charged towards them, branding them traitors. Whereas journalists tried to remain professional and impartial in their work, political actors associated them with positions taken by investors."Our media house met hostile reception in some instances when covering the CORD side, due to apparent perception of being associated with Jubilee candidate Uhuru Kenyatta. On the day of presidential nominations at KICC, CORD candidate Raila, after being cleared, gave short interview to TV teams present, but on reaching the K24 desk, his media team shepherded him away, despite him showing willingness to speak in the live coverage," observed Mr Maina. UDF supporters nearly ejected
Mediamax and Citizen journalists from a press conference at the party headquarters in Nairobi on claims they were affiliated to Jubilee and CORD respectively. Mediamax owns K24 television station, The People newspaper, Kameme FM, Meru FM and Milele FM. A journalist who attended the function recounted how party supporters charged at them, branding them as Raila and Uhuru stations. Mediamax is associated with President Uhuru Kenyatta. Political parties also restricted journalists from accessing some areas during the campaigns especially near podiums from where politicians addressed gatherings, making it difficult for photojournalists to get perfect shots.In addition, some political parties, for example TNA procured signal distributor, barring TV stations from directly covering their events, leaving them at the mercy of event organisers. This made it difficult for journalists to get out of their way to go for pictures during the live event. Fatigue also affected the performance of journalists towards the end of the election period, where some worked for long hours and moved from one place to the other to file reports. Movement characterised by scorching sun and poor infrastructure also exposed journalists to exhaustion. Journalists reporting from the national tallying centre at the Bomas of Kenya spent close to five nights instead of a maximum of two that had been envisaged had the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission of Kenya released results as earlier planned. When the release of the results delayed, journalists extended their work at Bomas to keep updating the public. This happened hot on the heels of a grueling campaign covered by the same journalists for over one year since politicians hit the campaign trail as early as January 2012 in anticipation election would be held in August as the Constitution had set before the High Court moved it to March 2013. Mr Erick Oduor works at The East African Newspaper. oduorerick@gmail.com The Media
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