Kameme TV Reporter Catherine Wanjeri has broken the silence over the Tuesday police shooting incident that left her nursing gunshot wounds.

Wanjeri, who was on duty during the anti-government protests in Nakuru City, said Friday that she was targeted. 

Speaking after being discharged from Nakuru Provincial General Hospital Annex where she was receiving treatment, an emotional Wanjeri said there was bad blood between the police and the media in the run-up to the anti-government protests that Tuesday. 

“Something did not seem right when we tried to be friendly with the police. Some of them had requested toothpaste which I always applied on my cheeks to curb the effects of the teargas,” said Wanjeri. 

Recalling the events leading to her shooting, the reporter said one of the officers confronted her, asking why journalists were following police and yet the police were not protestors.

“The officer commanded us to leave but my colleagues and I ignored the order. We took his orders lightly because we had covered the previous protests the same way without any issues,” she narrated to a group of journalists that turned up to comfort her.

It is common practice by journalists to be on the side of the police during demonstrations, riots and protests to avoid being on the line of fire and teargas. 

She said it never occurred to her there was bad blood between journalists and the police, but quickly added that she was not convinced that she was not the target in the shooting incident. 

“We never thought there was enmity, but no one can convince me that I was not a target because it was not the first time they attacked me,” she said. By Daniel Chege, The Standard