Nairobi County governor’s battles in the corridors of justice are not about to end. City Senator Mike Sonko has sued him for alleged defamation for linking him to drug peddling.
Sonko demands that Dr Kidero and the Star newspaper, who have been summoned to the High Court tomorrow, apologise and compensate him for defamation.
“The defendants jointly and severally have over the past few weeks engaged in a smear campaign against the plaintiff and have made defamatory, slanderous and scandalous allegations without any reasonable justification,” lawyer Danson Mungatana for senator Sonko told court.
Mr Kidero had been notified to make a public apology in the local press within seven days, which have since then expired. “The allegations are that the plaintiff is a drug peddler using his ambulances and hearses to supply drugs to slums,” the lawyer said. Mr Sonko says the governor made the allegations in a public gathering, which were subsequently published in a newspaper “and have such caused irreparable harm.”
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Addressing the court, Mr Mungatana said his client runs Sonko Rescue Team whose sole interest is to assist the needy in the society and manage disaster in times of crises, “thus associating him with crime is unethical and injurious to the very nature of his charitable organisation.”
“The allegations only serve to disparage the plaintiffs reputation and will continue to cause injury unless the defendants are restrained through a court order,” the lawyer said.
“I believe that any person who heard Dr Kidero speak during the function at Mathare could easily have connected the same newspaper report with an intention to destroy our young generation instead of providing them with mentorship and socio-economic empowerment.”
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