We escaped death: Journalists recount terror unleashed by goons in Homa Bay

Journalists who travelled with the Linda Mwananchi faction's tour of Homa Bay County on Sunday, August 16, have described scenes of sustained terror, running battles and narrow escapes from armed gangs who besieged the convoy and left journalists nursing injuries.

Multiple journalists reported assaults, robberies and injuries throughout the day, as they covered the convoy led by Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna and other Linda Mwananchi figures.

Bramuel Bwire, a Standard Group journalist covering the tour, said the morning had unfolded largely without incident. The convoy faced early resistance around 11 am near Ndhiwa, where vehicles were pelted with stones, forcing a temporary U-turn before police intervened and the group proceeded. Stops at Nyandhiwa and later at Sindo Market passed successfully, with residents receiving the convoy without any form of intimidation.

The situation changed as the convoy approached Homa Bay town roughly two and a half hours later. Bwire described seeing a large group of youths gathered on one side and Linda Mwananchi supporters massed on the other, with police stationed nearby. What followed, he said, had the hallmarks of a coordinated ambush: youths positioned ahead, behind, and on both flanks of the convoy emerged armed with stones, pangas and clubs.

It was at this point, as the ambush closed in, that two other Standard Group journalists, Rogers Otiso and photojournalist Sammy Omingo, documenting the standoff on foot, found themselves caught directly in the attack's opening moments. "We didn't know where they came from. We lost concentration, we lost focus, we didn't even know where our vehicle had gone," Otiso said.

A few minutes before the incident, Otiso and Omingo were seated on top of a vehicle where they were taking pictures to document the rally.

However, a few minutes later youths began hurling stones at the convoy. The situation forced the two journalists to jump down to avoid being hit with the stones.

“We feared that the stones which were being hurled were going to injure us seriously. I feared that the youth who were wielding pangas were going to cut us more easily if we continued to be on the vehicle,” Otiso said.

Upon landing on the ground, Otiso was pushed by the rowdy crowd and fell on the road, leading to the injuries.

When he stood up to get into the vehicle where he expected to be safe, the vehicle had already left. He found his colleague Omingo was equally stranded.

“I was tense and confused because the only people I could see around me were the goons. It was when I saw Omingo struggling before we ran into a maize plantation,” Otiso said.

In the chaos, Bwire's vehicle came under direct assault. "I saw the man who cut my window first. He came straight to where I was sitting and struck it with a panga, and the glass shattered," Bwire recounted.

A second attacker struck the same shattered window with stones moments later, apparently as part of a coordinated assault, while others attempted to force open the back door. "There was a moment we thought we were going to die," Bwire said, describing how the ordeal stretched on for some minutes.

As Otiso and Omindo hid for roughly two hours, unable to reach anyone by phone, Bwire's vehicle was undergoing its own escalating crisis en route to Homa Bay Stadium. A second machete strike shattered the remaining window, and a tear gas canister was thrown directly inside the moment Bwire said he believed he might not survive.

With the vehicle filling with smoke and several windows jammed shut, the group forced their way clear and drove toward safety near Tom Mboya University.

During that same escape, Bwire's vehicle encountered K24 journalist Francis Mwangi, thrown from his own burning vehicle and struck in the face with a stone as he tried to get up. They pulled Mwangi inside and rushed him to hospital, passing a roadblock manned by youths demanding money; they were waved through only once the attackers saw Mwangi's injuries.

Meanwhile, at the homestead where they had taken shelter, Otiso and Omindo made contact with other survivors including members of the Linda Mwananchi convoy who had also fled into the area seeking safety, and a separate injured individual with a panga wound to the neck, later evacuated to Homa Bay Referral Hospital by ambulance.

Several other journalists were also targeted during Sunday’s tour. AFP video journalist Fred Ooko and photographer Brian Ongoro were attacked by armed men on motorcycles in Homa Bay town, dragged along the road, beaten and robbed of cameras, press cards, phones and other belongings. At least two Royal Media Services journalists were also assaulted, with their vehicle vandalised and valuables stolen, while a Mediamax journalist and other media crews were reportedly roughed up and robbed of equipment.

The attacks drew condemnation from the Kenya Editors Guild, which condemned the attack on journalists in the line of duty and called on the Inspector General of Police to immediately investigate the incidents. Amnesty International Kenya also condemned the violence, highlighting attacks on journalists, disruption of broadcasts and destruction of media equipment and property.

Although police later arrested several suspects, the journalists’ accounts raise questions about whether enough was done to prevent the attacks in the first place. With questions about the safety net available to journalists covering Kenya's increasingly volatile political landscape ahead of the 2027 General Election and about whether repeated condemnations from bodies such as the Media Council of Kenya translate into any meaningful deterrent.