Francis Nyauri

Nyaruri was one of 48 journalists killed in 2011, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Francis Kainda Nyaruri, also known as Mong'are Mokua (ca. 1978 – January 29, 2009), a Kenyans freelance journalist for the Weekly Citizen newspaper in Nyamira, Nyamira County, Kenya, had published several articles about local police officials exposing acts of corruption and malpractice approximately two weeks before his dead body was found decapitated with hands bound.

Thirty-one year old Francis Nyaruri is survived by his wife Josephine Kwamboka who identified him at Kisii Hospital on January 29, 2009. Kwamboka stated her husband had left the house earlier to travel to Kisii in order to buy construction materials he was in dire need of. His wife then informed reporters the last time she had talked with Francis was around 11 a.m. Friends and family had stated that about a month prior to Nyaruri's disappearance he had confided in them about recent death threats he was receiving in regards to his latest articles revealing police malpractice.

Kenyan police say Nyaruri had gone missing within two days of when the threats had been received. When family members reported Nyaruri as a missing person they noticed the police officials seemed to be very reluctant to help and almost seemed uncooperative suggesting he had failed to come home due to an alleged affair with a woman from a neighboring town and that the family should wait a couple days or even a week before calling the police. About two weeks later on January 29, 2009, Nyaruri's body was found on the outskirts of the Kodera Forest in western Kenya. When the corpse had been found Nyaruri had been obviously decapitated and his hands were also found bound behind his back leaving him powerless.

On March 3, 2009, Joel Simon, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists wrote to the President of the Republic of Kenya stating his organization's concern over the lack of progress in Nyaruri's police investigation. In the letter, Simon said, representatives from "Nyamira's local government may be involved with Francis Nyaruri's murder and he tries asking for permission from the parliament to put together a private group to carry on with the investigation due to the close nature of the police officers on the force. Local journalists in Kenya say Kenya's once vibrant media now often practices self-censorship, as many journalists refrain from reporting on violent attacks for fear of deadly reprisals." Journalists also expressed that they feel as if journalists should be able to do their job right and well with out the fear of being attacked or viciously threatened.

Nyaruri was known for well he dealt with intimidation and which made reporting on issues of corruption involving government officials a bit easier. In 2008, Francis took on a national police officer Lawrence Njoroge Mwara accusing the officer of using the police vehicles to ship prostitutes and escorts across the country. Peter Nyaruri, Nyaruri's father admits that after this article his son had been threatened multiple times forcing him to go into hiding for several weeks. In recent articles, Nyaruri is seen accusing Mwara, the same officer from his 2008 articles of corruption and an extortion racket on construction projects. Even though Nyaruri had written his latest article under his pen name threats were allegedly being made almost immediately following.