Uhuru wins 6 000 000

Deputy Premier Uhuru Kenyatta has been awarded Sh6 million in a defamation case against the Nation.

The amount is, however, Sh194 million less than what he had asked for.

Mr Kenyatta took issue with an article published last year which, he said, portrayed him as an opportunist taking advantage of the resettlement of displaced people.

The Deputy PM said the article claiming that the government had bought land from the Kenyatta family was defamatory.

Being rewarded

He also complained about comments by readers on the Nation website, saying they indicated that “Mr Kenyatta was being rewarded and was giving the land to IDPs displaced by the violence he had created.”

Mr Kenyatta has denied selling land to the government to resettle post-election violence victims.

Although the story did not state his name, he said he was a member of the Kenyatta family.

The newspaper said in its defence that the story did not name him and was published because it was newsworthy. Mr Justice John Mwera said the paper took “reasonable steps to verify the story” and awarded compensatory damages that “should serve only as a consolation to him for a wrong done.”