Veteran broadcaster Fred Obachi Machoka got a major win on Thursday after the court allowed his application and issued orders barring MCA cum blogger Robert Alai from posting about him on social media.
“An order is issued restraining the respondent/defendant by themselves, their agents, servants or anyone acting on their behalf from posting, publishing and/or republishing defamatory information on any medium and in any manner whatsoever about the plaintiff/applicant,” the order reads
The judge said the orders will be in force until August 5 when the case will be mentioned.
Justice Stella Mutuku issued the orders following an application by his lawyer Danstan Omari who said if interim orders are not issued, Alai would continue posting about Obachi.
Omari further submitted that Alai would not suffer any prejudice if the orders barring him from posting are made.
He further told court that since the publication on Obachi, Alai has continued to post including abusing him as Obachi’s lawyer on the same platform which is hurting both him and his client.
However, Lawyer Edward Oonge for Alai strongly opposed the application for Interim orders saying it will be like gagging him,
Oonge said the court should instead give them 21 days to file their responses.
In a short ruling, Justice Mutuku gave Oonge 21 days to file his responses in the matter and in the meantime she barred Alai from posting anything on Obachi.
The case will be mentioned on August 5
Obachi has sued Alai seeking for Sh 60 M in damages for the harm the false publication on social media has caused him.
According to court papers, Alai posted false, malicious, and injurious statements concerning his health, ethnicity and mental condition via his Facebook account, registered under his name “Robert Alai”.
The post read “@Fred Obachi Machoka OGW I feel your ethnic rage. It’s just ethnic. Your problem is supply of ARVs not Presidency. Democracy also entails me telling you that. Where is the insult in saying the thigs Matiang’i did? Does HIV bring insanity nowadays?”
Omari argues that the said publication left no room for doubt that the statements were directed at his client, as Alai expressly tagged Obachi’s Facebook account registered under the name ‘Fred Obachi OGW’.
“These assertions are categorically false, unsubstantiated, and were disseminated with clear malice aforethought, with the intention of injuring our client’s character, reputation, and standing in both his personal and professional capacities,” the suit reads in part.
