(NDIMA/IFEX) – Kenyan police arrested a correspondent for “The People Daily”, based in Kitale, in the North Rift Province, on 26 November 2000. Johann Wandetto was arrested over a story he wrote which claimed that the body of a recently deceased cabinet minister had been secretly exhumed. The controversial minister, Francis Polisi Lotodo, died on […]
(NDIMA/IFEX) – Kenyan police arrested a correspondent for “The People Daily”, based in Kitale, in the North Rift Province, on 26 November 2000. Johann Wandetto was arrested over a story he wrote which claimed that the body of a recently deceased cabinet minister had been secretly exhumed. The controversial minister, Francis Polisi Lotodo, died on 8 November in South Africa while preparing to undergo an operation.
Wandetto was arrested with a “Daily Nation” photographer and a “Kenya Times” correspondent who were both accused by police of attempting to help Wandetto escape.
Wandetto had gone into hiding prior to his arrest, expressing fears for his life. Police had launched a heavy search for him. One of the journalists arrested with him had helped him dodge the police on the night of Friday 24 November.
A contingent of thirty police officers from Kapenguria police station, led by the West Pokot district police boss Danson Mutune, had unsuccessfully attempted to arrest Wandetto on 24 November, in the evening. At 6:00 p.m. (local time) that day, the officers had tried to arrest the journalist after ordering him to accompany them back to Kapenguria town to record a statement over the Lotodo story.
The story appeared in the 23 November edition of “The People Daily” under the headline “Lotodo exhumed, to be buried in bunker”.
