Standard Group's Alex Kiprotich abduction condemned

Standard Group PLC Associate Editor Alex Kiprotich. [Stafford Ondego, Standard]

Journalists across the country have condemned the abduction of Standard Group Associate Editor Alex Kiprotich, with the industry stakeholders warning that the incident represents a dangerous attack on press freedom.

Speaking on Wednesday during a joint press briefing at the Group's headquarters along Mombasa Road moments after Kiprotich's release, Media Sector Working Group described the incident as a calculated and heavy-handed signal meant to instil fear across the Kenyan media fraternity.

This comes a few months after an attempt to abduction attempt on June 27, 2026, in Nakuru County which he managed to escape.

At the same time, MSWG said the abduction joins the long list of similar targeted threats to the press and journalists.

According to data by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the Kenya's World Press Freedom Index has plunged sharply, falling from 69^th globally in 2022 down into the "difficult" classification at 106 out of 180 countries

“These scare tactics represent a coordinated effort to force self-censorship and silence critical reporting at a time when the public needs objective truth most,” said the Kenya Union of Journalists Secretary General, Eric Oduor.

Mr Oduor decried the government's inaction against the arrest and prosecute perpetrators of the violence against scribes.

“Our warnings were ignored, our demands met with deafening silence, and today, that culture of impunity has metastasized into highway abductions of newsroom leaders,” he said.

According to Kenya Editors Guild President Zubeidah Kananu, violating these principles of freedom as enshrined in the Constitution is "not just an assault on a newsroom; it is an illegal strike against the democratic foundation of the republic."

She warned that these attacks are an attempt to stifle newsrooms against political scrutiny and to succumb to State repression ahead of the high-stakes 2027 General Elections.

"Those driving this campaign of intimidation must be reminded that Kenya is governed by a supreme Constitution, not goons and shadow operatives," Kananu said while demanding for investigations into the cases of attack on journalists and the press.

We demand an immediate, transparent, and independent investigation by the Director of Criminal Investigations and IPOA into last night's abduction, including full accountability for the command structures that ordered it.