Court Orders Moses Kuria To Pay Martha Karua Ksh.6.5M For Defamation

Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria has been ordered to pay KSh6.5 million to former Justice Minister Martha Karua for damaging her reputation.

Ms. Karua sued Kuria after he claimed she procured witnesses in the case against Deputy President William Ruto at The Hague.

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Ruto had been charged with crimes against humanity in relation to the 2007-08 post-election violence. The case was later dismissed in April 2016 for lack of sufficient evidence.

In the case before Justice Joseph Sergon, Karua argued the words uttered by Kuria damaged her dignity and reputation, as well as her standing as a politician, businesswoman, and an advocate.

Kuria made the statements at a Jubilee Party political meeting “disguised as a prayer rally” at Kapsokwony in Bungoma County on September 21st, 2015.

She said the words were malicious, unwarranted and defamatory in nature as they injured her character.

She told the court that she has never met Mr. Kuria nor discussed anything to do with the procurement of fake witnesses for the International Criminal Court prosecutor.

Ms. Karua had first issued a demand letter the same day, asking the MP to withdraw the remarks and apologize. She said that he was aware that the words would be picked by the media and that they were false.

But instead of apologizing, Mr. Kuria made the same remarks at the precincts of Parliament the following day prompting her to file a suit.

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She had initially asked for KSh20 million but Justice Sergon, in the ruling, said that KSh6.5 million was sufficient.

Martha Karua was a member of the mediation team, chaired by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. She was later appointed Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister in the Grand-coalition government.