Lawsuits on The Standard : Professional negligence or malice?

Whether it is negligence or by design, The Standard Group is increasingly being cited for publishing unverified information touching on the reputation of others. In an age where technology disseminates news instantaneously, the damage to people is irreparable.

This week, lawyer Dennis Mosota, who represented businesswoman Josephine Kabura in the NYS saga, is suing The Standard for a malicious publication.

“Standard Media Group through its breaking news mobile alert platform sent a false and highly defamatory alert that I had moved to court to block EACC from arresting me over the NYS saga and in particular the explosive Waiguru Affidavit.

The story is obviously false, factually incorrect, reckless possibly actuated by malice and the edicts defamatory because; one, I have not moved to court to block my arrest or for any other reason as alleged; two,I have not been asked to appear before the EACC on the NYS saga except as Counsel; three, I never participated in the drafting nor commissioning the Affidavit in question,” said Mosota.

Last week, former LSK Chief Executive Apollo Mboya also threatened to sue the Standard after the media house falsely linked him to witness tampering. The media house later retracted and apologized.

The two lawyers were connected to unflattering public issues – a multi-billion shilling scandal which sent former devolution CS Anne Waiguru home and an international criminal case. While Mosota acted in one of these issues as an advocate, Mboya has never been part of the ICC cases since their inception.

When Kenya Today sough a comment from Mr. Mboya, he said the increasing occurrence of these incidences point both to negligence and malice.

“Even after I alerted the media house of the error, they again went ahead to broadcast the same clip with my photo as one of those being sought by the ICC even though they knew this to be false,” he said.

“That can’t be negligence anymore, that’s malice,” he said. The ICC has slapped two lawyers and one journalist with warrants of arrest, though President Uhuru has said no Kenyan will ever be tried by the International Crimes Court.

For lawyer Mosota, he believes those named in the NYS scandal, especially the prime mover, is out to damage the reputations of those who exposed their grand schemes. Mosota has been representing Josephine Kabura pro bono in what he claims was ‘a decision to protect an innocent poor girl from the mighty and the powerful.’

“When you look at the NYS scam, surely, it could not have been pulled by a nobody in the larger scheme of things. We returned the scandal to where it belonged,” he says.

Mainstream media houses were accused of covering up the scam after being paid millions of shillings by then CS Anne Waiguru, charges which they denied.

Mosota says the new claims being published by the media are attempts to make people think Waiguru was fixed and that she is innocent. The former CS who requested to be re-assigned ‘lighter duties’ is yet to get back to government, though talk in town is that she is ‘almost back’.

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