A prominent Pakistani investigative journalist has been killed in Kenya in an incident that has sent shockwaves throughout the country.
“I lost friend, husband and my favourite journalist today, as per police he was shot in Kenya,” Javeria Siddique tweeted about her husband Arshad Sharif’s death.
The family statement asked for privacy, saying “Respect our privacy. Please don’t share our family pictures, personal details and his last pictures from hospital. Remember us in your prayers.”
The 49-year-old had left Pakistan in August and had previously been in the UAE before traveling to Kenya. Sharif was known as a critic of Pakistan’s current regime and sympathetic toward former prime minister Imran Khan.
Details of Arshad Sharif’s shooting
Kenya’s National Police Service issued a statement on the killing and confirmed that a foreign national named Arshad Sharif “was fatally wounded by a police officer.” Kenyan police said it is investigating the incident and expressed condolences with the family and friends of the deceased.
Kenya’s The Star newspaper reported that Sharif was “shot in the head and killed by police after he, his brother/cousin Khurram Ahmed, and his driver allegedly breached a roadblock that had been set up to check on motor vehicles using the route.”
Kenyan journalist Brian Obuya claimed that “The fatal shot that killed Arshad Sharif was fired with precision through the rear mirror of the car, penetrated through the back of his head and exited through the front side.”
The police report stated that Sharif died from a gunshot at the back of his head which exited in the front after the vehicle came under a hail of bullets from the officers.
Sharif and his driver were driving from Magadi town to Nairobi when they were flagged down at a roadblock manned by police officers, police said. The incident took place on Sunday night along the Nairobi-Magadi highway. Kenyan Police later confessed that they “had an incident of shooting which turned out to be a case of mistaken identity involving a journalist.”
However, some Kenyan journalists criticized the police statement, saying it had “too many gaps”. Eliud Kibii, editor at Star Kenya, said “if it was a case of a stolen vehicle, the number plates of the stolen car and the one Arshad was are different.” He also pointed out that the police “say the road was blocked with small stones and on passing them, there was a shooting by GSU officers. Interestingly, no chase to recover the “stolen” vehicle is reported. We have a problem here.”
Kenya’s Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), a civilian watchdog, is now investigating the killing. “There’s an alleged police killing of a Pakistani national at Tinga market, Kajiado county, last evening. Our rapid response team has already been dispatched,” IPOA’s chairwoman Ann Makori said.
In the week before the killing of Sharif, Kenya’s president disbanded a special police unit accused of abuse and the extrajudicial killings of civilians. Kenya has one of the worst records when it comes to police corruption and brutality. There have been reports of systematic and carefully planned extrajudicial executions undertaken by the Kenyan police.
Pakistani Prime Minister calls Kenyan President
President Dr Arif Alvi termed Sharif’s death a loss for journalism and Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has urged Kenya’s President William Ruto to speed up investigations of murdered Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif. He also requested the early completion of formalities and repatriation of the mortal remains of the journalist.
The Kenyan President conveyed deepest condolences on the tragic incident, and assured complete investigations and repatriation of the body at the earliest.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry said its high commissioner in Kenya was in touch with Kenyan police and authorities for speedy repatriation of the mortal remains of Arshad Sharif.
Pakistan’s High Commissioner in Kenya said that it learnt about the death of Arshad Sharif early in the morning of October 24 and was informed that the body was in Chiromo Funeral House in Nairobi.
Outrage in Pakistan
The circumstances of Sharif’s death sparked widespread outrage in Pakistan and calls for an investigation from journalists and citizens.
Former prime minister Imran Khan said he was shocked at Sharif’s death who he said had “paid the ultimate price for speaking the truth.” He called for a judicial investigation into the incident.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) also urged the government to pursue an immediate, transparent inquiry into the circumstances of his death.
Rodgers Kipembe Mpuru, the secretary general of Kenya’s NOPEU Party said on social media:
‘A dedicated and forthright journalist’
The Foreign Press Association, Africa (FPA Africa) said it is “deeply disturbed” by Sharif’s killing, especially the circumstances in which he died. “Sharif’s death has robbed the media fraternity globally of a dedicated and forthright journalist,” FPA Africa said in its statement.
The association added that it is calling on authorities in Kenya to investigate the incident and thereby assure “foreign journalists based in the country and covering Africa, including those who visit on assignment and other professional undertakings that they’re safe.”
Sharif’s colleagues remembered him as a “brave and fierce journalist” and a “gentleman”.
“Arshad Sharif, not just a colleague, a brother, is no more,” journalist Meher Bokhari wrote on Twitter. “From Islamabad to Moscow, from Dunya News to ARY, I’ve not known a finer gentleman” she said, adding that he was “shot dead. Too young. Too brutally.”
“My brother, my friend, my colleague Arshad Sharif was shot dead in Kenya. I still can’t believe it. It’s beyond heartbreaking. This is just wrong … this is painful … I love u brother,” ARY News anchorperson Kashif Abbasi tweeted.
Who was Arshad Sharif?
Arshad Sharif was a popular and high-profile Pakistani journalist, best known as an anchor on ARY News, where he presented current affairs program ‘Power Play’ between 2014 and September 2022. Sharif who had more than two million followers on Twitter, had recently gone freelance and was reporting via his YouTube at the time of his death.
Born in 1973 in Karachi city, he began his career as a freelance journalist in 1993. He received a Master’s degree in Media Studies from the UK and an MSc degree in Public Administration from Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad. Hed worked with leading national media organizations including The News, Aaj News, Dunya TV, Dawn News and ARY News.