Tuesday, April 16, 2024 - Siaya Governor James Orengo has suffered a severe blow for insulting a ‘poor woman’.
This is after the court ordered him to pay Ksh1 million to the mother of former Kisii governor James Ongwae for hurling insults at her during a political rally organized by Raila Odinga’s Azimio in Kisii County on February 17, 2023.
Kisii Senior Resident Magistrate Paul Mutui slapped Governor Orengo with a Ksh1 million fine for harm caused by the defamatory statements made to the 97-year-old Grace Moraa Ongwae, whose words were widely published on YouTube and social media.
Mutai has also ordered Orengo to publish and upload a clear public apology of equal prominence to Ongwae's mother with national coverage.
Further, the court has issued a permanent injunction restraining Orengo and his agents or servants from further remaking or causing to be published the defamatory words against Moraa.
While awarding the damages, the magistrate found that Ongwae's mother, through lawyer Peter Wanyama, had proved beyond reasonable doubt the defamation suit against Orengo.
Moraa filed the defamation suit last year, arguing that Governor Orengo had infringed on her right to human dignity when he made offensive, vulgar, crude, false, and derogatory remarks against her on February 17, 2023, which have since painted her in a negative light and exposed her to hatred, ridicule, and mockery from the residents of Kisii County.
During the hearing, the court was informed that Moraa and her husband learned about defamatory remarks while listening to the radio at their village home in Kisii when they heard Orengo utter the defamatory words repeatedly.
Ongwae's father informed the court that if Orengo had a political problem with his son, the best way was to confront him directly, and there was no need to drag his wife Moraa into the matter.
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