Atwoli loses defamation case against CS Kazungu Kambi
Cotu Secretary-General Francis Atwoli. He has given the government seven days to pay teachers their new salaries or civil servants will stage protests. FILE PHOTO | BILLY MUTAI |
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The court’s duty was to balance competing interests of the public, right to freedom of speech and the private interest to reputation, he added
The judge further ordered the Cotu officials to pay Mr Kambi, who was represented by lawyer Philip Nyachoti, and the three MPs the cost of defending the petition.
The suit was filed by Mr Atwoli, Cotu chairman Rajab Mwondi, treasurer Rebecca Nyathogora, deputy treasurer Washington Adongo, trustees Francis Wangara and Joseph Nyabiya
Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) boss Francis Atwoli has lost a Sh500 million defamation case against suspended Labour CS Kazungu Kambi and three MPs.
Justice Alfred Mabeya on Friday ruled that Mr Atwoli had not proved that Mr Kambi, MPs Moses Kuria, Francis Waititu and Alice Ng’ang’a defamed him by linking him and other top Cotu officials to the February 7 killing of Kabete MP George Muchai to warrant the compensation.
“I am not satisfied that the plaintiffs have established a credible case to justify the orders sought. This cannot be a proper case to warrant the orders and even if it is true he was defamed, it would be very difficult for any right-thinking judge to award such a huge amount,” ruled Judge Mabeya.
COMPETING INTERESTS
The court’s duty was to balance competing interests of the public, right to freedom of speech and the private interest to reputation, he added
The judge further ordered the Cotu officials to pay Mr Kambi, who was represented by lawyer Philip Nyachoti, and the three MPs the cost of defending the petition.
The suit was filed by Mr Atwoli, Cotu chairman Rajab Mwondi, treasurer Rebecca Nyathogora, deputy treasurer Washington Adongo, trustees Francis Wangara and Joseph Nyabiya.
The officials claimed that Mr Kambi and the MPs uttered the words “the six Cotu officials are responsible for Hon Muchai’s death, we want to see them in handcuffs for Muchai’s murder,” during the late Kabete MP’s burial.
The officials argued that Mr Kambi and the MPs made no effort to verify the statements when they knew that investigations into the murder of Mr Muchai were under way, and that they should have made the statements with police instead of going public.
Mr Atwoli, in his supporting affidavit, swore that the statements were meant to portray them as corrupt and people who had misappropriated Cotu funds.
“Those words were meant to portray me as a conman, a fraudster, a thief and a person who misused his position and cannot be trusted to hold public office. They also portrayed me as a person who leads a gang of murderers who killed Mr Muchai,” swore Atwoli.
He argued that Mr Kambi and the MPs were only interested in furthering their political interests by creating a sensation to discredit the Cotu officials.
He added that their integrity as Cotu officials had been put to question by the false statements, and that it would be in the interest of justice if they were stopped from further linking them to the murder of Mr Muchai.
