Kenyan police arrested journalist Elijah Kinyanjui Maina in the town of Nakuru, roughly 160 kilometres (99 miles) northwest of Nairobi, on January 12, 2016, and released him that evening, according to news reports. Maina is managing editor of the website Nakuru County News, which focuses on local news.
Nakuru Chief of Police Hassan Barua told CPJ that the police were investigating “a complaint” against the journalist, but would not say whether he would be charged with any crime. Police pressed no charges against Maina before releasing him, but said they were still investigating, and ordered the journalist to report back to them on January 18.
Kinyanjui had recently re-published personal photos of the local governor’s daughter taken from her social media accounts. The website’s coverage has in the past included allegations of corruption against local officials.
In July 2015 CPJ released a special report “Broken Promises: How Kenya is failing to uphold its commitment to a free press.” After CPJ presented that report to Fred Matiangi, then cabinet secretary for information, communications and technology, Matiangi told reporters that “nothing will tempt us to encroach on press freedom.”