A brazen daylight horror attack has sent chills across Kenya, after machete-wielding Bodaboda thugs savagely attacked veteran Nation Media Group (NMG) photojournalist Habil Kweyu, slashing his face with deep cuts to the nose and eye just hours after he exposed their reign of terror.
The Kenya Editors Guild (KEG) has erupted in fury, slamming the assault as “grave and unacceptable” and blasting Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen, Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo, and Inspector General Douglas Kanja for the “growing state of anarchy” gripping Nairobi and beyond.
Kweyu, a respected Daily Nation lensman, was covering victims of the escalating Bodaboda crime wave on Monday, February 23. He had visited gospel musician Jimmy Gait at St Teresa Hospital in Kiambu, where Gait was recovering from his own brutal assault by suspected Bodaboda-linked robbers in Runda the day before.
Later that evening, after watching a football match, Kweyu was heading home when three men on a motorbike ambushed him. They hacked him mercilessly, leaving him bleeding profusely before fleeing into the night.
“The fact that a journalist is among the latest victims underscores the deepening insecurity facing residents of the capital,” KEG President Zubeida Kananu declared in a blistering statement. “Organized gangs continue to terrorize motorists, pedestrians, business owners, and commuters with alarming audacity.”
Kananu added: “This incident highlights the urgent need to restore public safety and decisively dismantle criminal networks operating within the city and the growing state of anarchy that is not limited to Nairobi but is rampant across the country.”
“Kenyans deserve to move, work, and live without fear,” she thundered, calling for swift arrests and decisive action to crush the two-wheeled terror squads that now operate in packs of three to ten, striking with machetes and daggers.
The Guild did not hold back, demanding that Murkomen, Omollo, and Kanja be held personally accountable for the spiraling violence. It urged an immediate, thorough probe to nail the culprits and called on Nairobi County leaders to team up with security agencies and flood the streets with real protection.
“We stand in solidarity with the injured photojournalist and all victims of these attacks,” Kananu stated. “We reaffirm our commitment to advocating for a safe environment in which journalists — and indeed all citizens — can carry out their daily lives without threat or intimidation.”
Kweyu has since undergone corrective surgeries and is recuperating at the Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi. A screengrab from his post-attack interview shows the grim reality of the wounds he sustained while simply doing his job.
This is no isolated horror. Bodaboda gangs have turned Nairobi into a battlefield, ambushing ordinary Kenyans, robbing them at blade-point, and leaving trails of blood from Runda to the city centre. The attack on Kweyu — a man shining a light on their crimes — sends a chilling message: no one is safe.
KEG’s demand is clear: enough is enough. The government must act now — or watch the capital descend further into lawlessness.
The nation watches. The thugs must be stopped.
