Former Justice minister Martha Karua has sued Nation Media Group for allegedly injuring her character. She says a story published in the Sunday Nation on 28th November, 2010, titled “Battle of fallen angels and demons”, depicted her as corrupt and tribal.
Ms Karua, (pictured, right) who was then a presidential hopeful, told the High Court yesterday she lost in the 2013 general election because of the publication of that story.
She said at the time the article was published, she was in the United Kingdom carrying out activities for her Narc Kenya party and the story caused her a huge embarrassment. “The story appeared at the time I had declared my presidential candidature and many people became doubtful of me as I was campaigning on the platform of zero tolerance to corruption,” Karua said.
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Ms Karua – who emerged sixth after Uhuru Kenyatta, Raila Odinga, Musalia Mudavadi, Peter Kenneth and Mohamed Dida – said the article injured her image. Testifying before Judge David Onyancha, she said she could have won the presidency had the paper not termed her as corrupt, tribal and in close association with drug dealers.
She said on that day, she was accompanied by Narc-Kenya youth leader Waithera Chege, who alerted her of the publication on NMG’s website. Testifying before the court, Ms Chege said Karua was shocked when she read the article. She said in her close relationship with Ms Karua, she has never known her to condone corruption. The case will be mentioned on July 29.
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