Govt ordered to pay Itumbi Sh5m damages

State House Director of Digital Communications Dennis Itumbi will get Ksh 5 million as compensation from government after winning a court case against Attorney General Githu Muigai.

Itumbi had sued the government for illegally detaining him in the year 2012 over alleged hacking of the International Criminal Court‘s (ICC) prosecution office’s email to access evidence relating to the case against President Uhuru Kenyatta, his deputy William Ruto and journalist Joshua Sang.

He had in the suit sought Ksh 50 million in the suit that had enjoined Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko, who has since been nominated as Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Forestry, and Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinett for what termed as violation of his constitutional right to fair trial.

Even after the matter against President Kenyatta was terminated by ICC, Itumbi still sought to have legal protection against further arrests and prosecution as the government investigators were in his view keenly monitoring him.

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Itumbi sued the State at the Constitutional and Human Rights Division of the High Court saying he was was arrested in Embu and detained in different police stations for close to four days without the police informing him why he was put under arrest.

Former ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo had claimed the ICC prosecution team’s email accounts were hacked but Itumbi defended himself saying none of the claims had been proved to be true. His suit enjoined the DPP’s office for not dropping the charges against him despite having been cleared by ICC.

The ruling was delivered by Justice Joseph Onguto of the Constitutional and Human Rights Division on Tuesday.