A Nairobi Court has ordered the Nation Media Group to pay to city lawyer Danstan Omari Ksh 9 million after he won a defamation case.
Senior Principal Magistrate Becky Cheloti in a ruling on Wednesday June 14 stated that the media house had defamed Omari by referring him as a poor communicator in an article tilted: “Cheers and boos: Here are the best and worst public communicators of 2021”.
The magistrate said that she was certain that the paper acted maliciously.
“I am of the opinion that the published article did affect the plaintiff by lowering his reputation in the estimation of right-minded persons, as this caused him to be avoided by his clients and professional colleagues.
“His law firm bore the brunt in that they lost clients and briefs because of the published article,” she ruled.
Omari had filed a lawsuit in response to the unfair mention of him in a Daily Nation story that ranked him as one of the worst communicators of 2021.
He told the court that he learned about the paper from senior and experienced legal colleagues in a WhatsApp group for lawyers.
Omari claimed that he was incensed after his wife, kids, and law students expressing concern about the piece.
“I have so far received concerning messages from my spouse, children, current and former students, and professional colleagues at the Faculty of Law at the Catholic University of Eastern African over the content of the impugned publication,” he told court.
Omari further claimed that the article implied that the cases he was managing were likely to fail because of his “poor” communication skills, and as a result, he lost a lot of clients.
“The plaintiff has been the subject of spite, public odium by his opponents who continue to disparage his good repute and is now treated with suspicion by many students, colleagues, lecturers, employees and the Bar at large,” Omari’s told the court.
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