Maraga sues lawyer Ahmednassir Abdullahi for defamation

Retired Chief Justice David Maraga has sued Nairobi-based lawyer Ahmednassir Abdullahi over a social media post on bribery of a Supreme Court judge.

Justice Maraga says the tweet is defamatory as the words used were intended, calculated, contrived and designed to mean and to be understood that he is not a decent and honest Kenyan.

Through TripleOKLaw Advocates, LLP, the former CJ says the tweet regarding an alleged bribe to an unnamed judge, and published by the Senior Counsel on January 12 2021, is libellous and scandalous.

“The said publication was both reckless and malicious in the extreme and was designed and intended to inflict maximum reputation damage on the plaintiff,” reads the court papers.

While describing himself as an elder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Justice Maraga says the tweet was open to all the 1.1 million followers of the lawyer and that it attracted 565 comments, 381 retweets and 2,500 likes from online users.

The church elder’s position requires a person of high moral character and unquestionable integrity, says justice Maraga adding that in such a position he is in many times called upon to preach.

He says the tweet meant that he condoned corruption within the judiciary and that he had concealed the name and identity of the said Supreme Court judge.

It is his view that Mr Ahmednassir meant that he shielded and protected corrupt judges in the Judiciary.

While describing the claims as false, justice Maraga says the lawyer did not lodge any complaint with the relevant authorities or initiate proceedings for the removal of the Supreme Court judge as required under the Constitution and the Judicial Service Act.

He says his standing as a retired Chief Justice depends on the perception of his professional colleagues in the bar, the bench and members of the public at large who interact with him in the administration of justice.

“Despite demand for an apology and an unequivocal public retraction, the defendant has declined and refused to pull down the Twitter post or to render an appropriate apology,” says justice Maraga.

He wants court to order the lawyer to pay him damages for defamation and publication of an apology given as much prominence as the tweet in dispute on his Twitter handle and in the Daily Nation and Standard newspapers.