Koigi wins Sh3.5m libel suit against paper

Wednesday, 20 April 2011 00:02 BY PAMELA CHEPKEMEI

The Standard newspaper will pay former Subukia MP Koigi Wamwere Sh3.5 million for portraying him as a sympathizer of the outlawed Mungiki sect. The High Court ruled that Koigi had proved a defamation case against the Standard.
High Court Judge Hatari Waweru who awarded the former MP damages, said the article published in the Crazy Monday on April 23, 2007 were defamatory to Koigi.
Justice Waweru said the article, by its wording and tenor, was highly abusive of Koigi.“The libel committed by the defendants against the plaintiff is indeed a grave one,” said the judge.
The article accused Koigi, then a member of parliament and an assistant minister, of being a Mungiki sympathiser. However the Standard said it was fair comment made in good faith and without malice upon a matter of public interest.