Kenya: Kidnapped journalist found safe

NAIROBI – Journalist Alex Kiprotich, deputy editor at the Standard Group publishing house, was abducted on the evening of 1 September on the Gilgil-Nakuru road and released a few hours later near a dam more than 200 kilometres from the scene of the abduction. The publishing group itself confirmed this in a statement, reporting that Kiprotich is well but is ‘shaken’ by the abduction he endured.

The journalist had tried to alert his publishing group’s security team by phoning the head of security, Tom Kypiegon, saying he had been ‘hijacked’ before the line went dead. The incident has reignited controversy over the crackdown on press freedom and political dissent attributed by activists and organisations to the state authorities, in a situation that has escalated following the anti-government protests of 2024 and in the run-up to the 2027 general election.

According to the account published by *The Standard*, the group’s newspaper, Kiprotich was abducted by four ‘masked’ men armed with AK-47 assault rifles. The kidnappers were travelling in a Subaru which later turned out to be “a government vehicle”, according to the Standard, which added that the journalist answered questions about the sources of his articles and the newspaper’s choice of headlines. The Standard takes a critical line towards William Ruto’s government and frequently publishes investigations into the Kenyan establishment, a hallmark of what is considered one of the most vibrant and incisive media landscapes on the continent. The chief executive of the Standard Group, Chaacha Mwita, told Reuters that Kiprotich had already escaped an attempted arrest by armed men in June and that both incidents can be linked to his journalistic work.