Former Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu has strongly condemned the arrest of blogger Emmanuel Maleve in Kitui town, terming the incident a shameful attack on freedom of expression.
In a statement issued Friday, Ngilu said she had received “disheartening reports” of the blogger’s arrest and called for his immediate and unconditional release.
“Surely, the days when politicians could threaten, intimidate and even try to gag people from their democratic right of expression, association and movement are long gone,” she said.
Maleve, who is known for his critical posts on local governance issues, was allegedly arrested over a story touching Kitui South Constituency NG-CDF.
According to his colleagues, the arrest followed an article in which he referred to Kitui South MP Racheal Kaki Nyamai as the “Queen of Corruption”, remarks which we cannot independently verify.
Ngilu criticized the use of political power to silence critics, saying, “Politicians should refrain from using their offices to muzzle people’s democratic rights and space. Kenya is a free Nation and we have come a long way to be taken back to the dark days.”
The arrest has sparked outcry from civil society groups and fellow bloggers, who have decried what they describe as growing intolerance to dissent in the region.
