Othaya poll loser sued for defamation
Two people in the recently concluded election petition against Othaya MP Mary Wambui Munene have been sued for defamation.
Mr Peter Gichuki King’ara and Ms Caroline Kimere, both lawyers, have been accused by Mr Cecil Miller of allegedly defaming him in a letter to the Chief Justice and in an affidavit filed in court over the hearing of the case.
In the libel case, Mr Miller, who represented the MP, says Mr King’ara who unsuccessfully contested the Othaya seat, made false and malicious allegations against him in the letter to Dr Willy Mutunga.
The lawyer alleges that Mr King’ara accused him of colluding with the presiding Court of Appeal, Mr Justice Kihara Kariuki, to fix a hearing date of an appeal against the decision of judges Alnashir Visram, Martha Koome and Otieno Odek.
Mr Miller had also requested the file to be transferred from Nyeri to Nairobi.
Mr King’ara and Ms Kimere have been named as defendants in the joint libel suit by Mr Miller and his clerk Sollo Spear Nzuki.
They allege that they were maliciously and falsely defamed by the two lawyers during the conduct of the appeal.
The MP’s lawyer and Mr Nzuki are now urging the High Court to enter a judgement against Mr King’ara and Ms Kimere for libel and slander.
They also want the court to compel the two to pay them unspecified aggravated and exemplary damages for slander and defamation.
Mr Miller alleges Mr Gichuki defamed him in the letter to the CJ by claiming that he (Miller) influenced the transfer of the case from Nyeri to Nairobi.
He added that the letter portrayed that he (Miller) conducted himself unprofessionally by abusing his authority as a court officer to secure a hearing date.
In the court papers, My Miller says “the defamatory statements and averments by Mr King’ara and Ms Kimere were a vehicle for character assassination and destruction without sense of decency and without regard” to his rights.
He further alleged that Mr King’ara and Ms Kimere accused him of influencing and arm-twisting judicial officers to have Ms Munene’s case heard.
Mr Miller and Mr Nzuki said the claims may be construed to mean “they are bullies who thrive on intimidating and harassing members and officials of the judiciary to have matters go in their favour.”
This article was published on the Daily Nation on July 9, 2014