Machakos governor Alfred Mutua sued Nation Media Group (NMG) but interestingly the court ruled against him and now he has to pay the media house a whopping Ksh 12 million.
Mutua sued NMG for defamation over a story written by defunct Daily Metro newspaper on February 11th 2008. Mutua, then government spokesman, was interviewed by a radio station in Kampala over 2007/2008 post-election violence.
Daily Metro termed Mutua’s words during the interview as inflammatory, reckless and inconsistent with what was later expressed by President Mwai Kibaki.
Mutua complained that the article made him appear like he traveled to Uganda and made a mockery of mediation talks in Kenya and that he perpetually engages in cheap, careless talk and is of loose tongue.
The High Court awarded Mutua 4.5 million as compensation for deformation in 2011. NMG however appealed the ruling to the appellate court which has now overturned the High Court ruling.
In his judgment, Justice Dulu ruled that Daily Metro’s article was not more than a fair comment on the statements Alfred Mutua made during the interview with Ugandan newspaper.
The appellate court ordered the Machakos governor to pay NMG Kes 12 million compensation for the cost of the lawsuit he filed against them.
