Former journalist now Nyali Member of Parliament Mohammed Ali has been awarded Khs. 1 million in a defamation suit he filed against The Star newspaper.
According to court papers seen by iFreedom.co.ke, the former KTN TV reporter popularly known as Moha Jicho Pevu, accused the print and digital platforms of the Radio Africa group of publishing a story that linked him to the the embezzlement of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) in 2018.
The story titled Mohamed Ali Caught up in CDF Bursary Scam, as He fires Three, claimed that the former investigative reporter was under investigation by the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission (EACC) over corrupt CDF.
On his part, Ali claimed that the report was false and malicious he had never been under any investigation by the EACC nor did he have any power to fire any personnel of the CDF committee.
Additionally, Moha argued that the dented his credibility, profession and reputation
“Based on the foregoing and owing to the fact that the plaintiff was afforded a right of reply and a clarification was published on May 11 and 12, 2019, which sought to make clarifications and directly apologised to the plaintiff, and taking into consideration the provisions under section 16 A of the defamation Act Cap 36 of the Laws of Kenya, I award the plaintiff a sum of Ksh1 million as general damages for the tort of defamation,” ruled the judge.
The Star newspaper was also ordered to foot the entire cost of the suit.
In his celebratory speech Ali urged reporters to be careful and keen on reports before availing them to the public.