'We refuse to pay evil with evil': Standard Group CEO Mwita recounts Alex Kiprotich abduction

Standard Group CEO Chaacha Mwita (left) with Associate Editor Alex Kiprotich, escorted by Tom Kipyegon, after Kiprotich arrived at the company’s offices on Wednesday, September 2, 2026. [Stafford Ondego, Standard]

Standard Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Chaacha Mwita has given a firsthand account of Associate Editor Alex Kiprotich's abduction, hours after the journalist was reunited with colleagues on Wednesday.

Kiprotich and his driver, Geoffrey Kamau, were seized on the Gilgil-Nakuru road shortly before 9:20 p.m. on Tuesday as they travelled towards Nakuru.

He was found near Masinga Dam in Machakos County, more than 200 kilometres away, at about 2 a.m. on Wednesday, after seeking refuge at a nearby household.

A Standard Group team reached him at around 6:30 a.m. The company said he was safe and okay, though visibly shaken by the ordeal.

Mwita, who spoke on Kiprotich's behalf, said the journalist did not yet feel ready to talk publicly about what happened.

According to Mwita, a Subaru pulled up in front of Kiprotich's car, and armed men opened fire into the air before dragging him from the vehicle.

'They came out, guns blazing, hitting the car, hitting the windows, and forced him out of his car and forced him into their own car,' Mwita recounted, noting that Kiprotich was hurt on the neck in the struggle.

The abductors  drove Kiprotich through parts of the Rift Valley and back towards Nairobi, using GPS navigation that suggested they knew exactly where they were headed, Mwita explained.

He was ordered to lie face down in a thicket and warned against getting up before his captors left him there.

Once he judged it safe, Kiprotich walked to the nearest home, where a family took him in and lent him a phone. Drawing on memory, he reached a contact who alerted Standard Group.

'A lot of Kenyans are good people. A lot of Kenyans are decent people,' Mwita said, praising the family that sheltered Kiprotich.

Tuesday's abduction was the second time in two months that Kiprotich had been targeted.

On June 27, armed men driving a Toyota Probox tried to force him from his vehicle as he drove to work in Nakuru.

He escaped by locking his doors and driving off, then reported the incident at Menengai Police Station.

Standard Group's own investigations traced that vehicle to the National Police Service's (NPS) Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau (CRIB), though no one has been held accountable.

The earlier attempt came days after President William Ruto publicly criticised the media house over its coverage.

Mwita said the company had faced similar attacks in its more than 100-year history, arguing that becoming a target of those seeking to drive a national agenda showed the newsroom was doing its job.'It's whether or not you become a target of people who want to drive an agenda that is important to the nation, and that has persistently happened to the Standard,' he observed.

The abduction has drawn condemnation from rights groups and media bodies, including the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), the Kenya Editors Guild (KEG) and the Media Owners Association.