Mediamax journalist Paul Njoroge pleaded for his life after he was attacked by Joram Wataka, personal assistant to Trans Nzoia Senator Allan Chesang', while covering a UDA event in Cherengany, Trans Nzoia County.
In the video recorded by fellow journalist Gilbert Sitati on Friday, March 20, Njoroge pleaded with Wataka to let him be after he assaulted him during the event.
Wataka appeared aggravated about a post that the journalist had shared on his status about a headline in the Standard Newspaper.
"I am deleting it, do not kill me, Joram. Why are you beating me up, Joram?" the journalist pleaded with his assailant.
The PA then turned to Sitati, who recorded the incident as it unfolded, and asked him to delete the clip. The Standard Media journalist rejected the request and ran for his safety.
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"Please leave him alone. You people can talk things out instead of assaulting him. I am not going to stop recording," Sitati told the assailant.
Speaking after the event, Njoroge explained how the PA lured him and asked him why he was hell-bent on staining Senator Chesang's image.
"Chesang's PA asked me why I had put the Standard article on my status. He asked me to delete it and began punching me," he recounted.
The journalist sustained injuries during the attack and has filed a report with the police in the county. However, he revealed that Joram also reported the matter to the police and even took a P3 form.
Kenya Union of Journalists Secretary General Eric Oduor has condemned the attack on the journalist and called for the arrest of the assailant captured in the video.
Oduor stated that he would petition Police Inspector General Douglas Kanja to take action on the rising attacks targeting journalists.
The attack came after the Standard published an article exposing an alleged scandal in Harambee House, where Chesang and other state officials were accused of dubbing foreign nationals millions in an ambulance supply tender.
The National Police Service confirmed that it had arrested several suspects at Harambee House but denied that the arrests were linked to any scandal.
