Nation journalist Mwangi Muiruri assaulted by officers attached to DP Gachagua's wife

Daily Nation journalist Mwangi Muiruri was physically assaulted on Thursday morning by security officers attached to Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua's wife, Dorcas Rigathi.

The incident happened during a relief food distribution event she attended in Gatanga, Murang'a County.

Mr Muiruri, a Nation correspondent in the county, was roughed up by the guards, with one officer caught on tape slapping him in the face.

The scuffle started when one officer pulled the journalist back as he tried to record the event with his mobile phone.

Though Mr Muiruri had a job tag with a labelled lanyard around his neck, the officer demanded that he stop recording as Ms Rigathi distributed food at the chief's camp in the Greystone area.

He told the officer that recording the activities on his mobile phone was part of his job.

But this irked the hawkeyed officers, who clobbered him after snatching his phone from him.

The tussle continued for a few minutes before one officer slapped Mr Muiruri, prompting the intervention of his colleagues.

One of the officers, upon noticing that they had been recorded, grabbed the phone of another Nation reporter and deleted a video recording of the encounter in an attempt to conceal the evidence before returning the phone.

But the footage was recovered.

This was the second time Mr Muiruri was roughed up by security officers, after another incident in late 2021 in Kangari, Kigumo, where William Ruto, then a Deputy President, attended a function.