Four journalists and a medical officer were attacked by assailants while covering the closure of a health facility in Homa Bay.

The journalists—Zedekiah Ouma of Mayienga Radio, Basil Okoth of KBC TV, George Odiwuor of Nation Media Group, and Lencer Akoth of Lakeside Radio—were assaulted at the Junction Kodoyo area on Wednesday evening.

Homa Bay Sub-county Medical Officer Ben Otieno was also attacked during the incident.

The five were attacked by the management of the health facility, Sehhat Albadan Community Hospital, formerly known as Osani Community Health and Development Centre.

The violence broke out when the journalists accompanied Otieno to the health facility, which had been ordered to cease operations.

Earlier that afternoon, county government officials, accompanied by police, had ordered the hospital to stop offering services due to operating illegally.

However, when Otieno returned with the journalists in the evening to check on compliance with the closure order, individuals who identified themselves as the hospital’s managers attacked them.

During the attack, Odiwuor was manhandled, and his shirt was torn.

“One of them came and grabbed me, but I resisted. He held onto my shirt and tore all the front buttons,” Odiwuor said.

“They tried to snatch our cameras, microphones, and audio recorders, but we struggled and managed to get away from their grasp,” Okoth said.

Dr Otieno was also attacked during the incident.

He stated that the hospital would remain closed unless it complied with the necessary regulations.

“We discovered that the hospital was operating under the license of a different health facility. It is non-compliant with the required regulations, and therefore, it will remain shut,” Dr Otieno said.

Dr Otieno further explained that the hospital was being monitored closely.

He mentioned that some of the hospital’s staff were unqualified, leading to concerns about the quality of services.

“Some of them reportedly fled when the health team arrived at the hospital,” Otieno added.