Pay editor Sh9m for libel, ex-FKF boss ordered

Former Football Kenya Federation boss Sam Nyamweya (pictured) has been ordered to pay retired Standard newspaper sports editor Omulo Okoth Sh9 million for defamation.

Nyamweya, sued alongside the sports body, was condemned to pay the amount plus costs of the case.

Justice Joseph Sergon found the defamatory words which had been published by Citizen Weekly, was a replica of a letter written by Nyamweya to the senior journalist. Nyamweya and FKF had argued that they have no control of Citizen Weekly.

“Okoth has stood by his evidence that the letter published was a falsehood, which evidence was not countered by the defendants. Moreover, the defendants did not plead the defence of truth,” the judge ruled.

He continued: “To my mind, Okoth has sufficiently shown that Nyamweya and FKF caused the letter to be published with the third defendant (Citizen Weekly), thereby granting third parties access to the publication.”

Okoth worked with the Standard Group from June 1, 1987, until April 2016. Being a sports journalist, he interacted with Nyamweya, who was then FKF boss. 

He testified in court that he had no personal vendetta against Nyamweya, adding that the publication was directed to him as the head of sports news at the time.

The defamatory story was published on June 5, 2015. He insisted that it painted him as a corrupt sports editor, bankrupt, unprofessional and of questionable moral integrity.

The letter bore Nyamweya’s signature, a factor Sergon said reflected that Nyamweya wrote it on behalf of the football body.