By KPC Reporter
The Kenya Media Sector Working Group (KMSWG) has issued a warning following the brutal attack on Nation Media Group photojournalist Habil Kweyu earlier this week.
Kweyu was assaulted by machete-wielding thugs riding a motorbike as he returned home from covering a story on insecurity in Nairobi.
He sustained serious injuries, underscoring the escalating danger faced by both journalists and ordinary residents in the capital.
“This is a wake-up call to authorities and law enforcement agencies to crack down on the marauding gangs keen on turning Nairobi into hell,” the coalition said in its statement.
“No country in the world can prosper if its capital city is infested with insecurity like what is being experienced in Nairobi.”
In recent weeks, Nairobi has witnessed a surge in brazen daylight robberies.
Videos circulating on social media show gangs smashing car windows in traffic, snatching phones and handbags, and cornering pedestrians on sidewalks.
Even traditionally secure areas such as Kilimani, Lavington, and Kileleshwa have become hotspots for violent attacks.
In the Central Business District, gangs disguised as street children have been filmed surrounding unsuspecting passersby and robbing them in broad daylight.
“Organised gangs continue to terrorise motorists, pedestrians, business owners and commuters with alarming audacity,” the Kenya Editors Guild warned.
A government report last year revealed that Kenya is home to at least 309 active criminal groups, with Nairobi accounting for 56 of them.
These gangs are notorious for their use of pangas, poisoned arrows, and extreme violence, often coupled with drug trafficking.
Media leaders Erick Oduor and Zubeidah Kananu, who signed the KMSWG statement, urged security chiefs to act decisively.
“We call upon security chiefs to launch a crackdown on these gangs to reduce the statistics of Kenya suffering in the hands of these dangerous criminals before the insecurity runs out of control,” they said.