A magistrate’s court in Nyamira has ordered a blogger to pay a legislator Sh2.5 million in damages for defamation.
Due to a careless WhatsApp post, Wycliff Asuga Nyaega is in hot water after the influencer—also known as Enchui Ensacha—made disparaging remarks about MP nominee Irene Mayaka.
Mr. Nyaega was found guilty of disseminating false information in a video that was uploaded on July 25, 2023, and extensively shared to a number of WhatsApp groups, one of which is “Nyamira News and Updates,” which has 457 members, including Ms. Mayaka.
It was further established that Mr Nyaega also shared the offending clip with other groups, including ‘The future of Nyamira County’, ‘Nyamaiya & Allied Forum’ and ‘Egetureri Kiomogusii’, each with at least 400 members.
The clip was also aired on his YouTube Channel, titled ‘Enchui Ensacha TV’, which enjoys a subscriber base of over 100,000.
According to court documents, Mr Nyaega used unprintable words to imply that Ms Mayaka was not nominated to the National Assembly on merit.
Ms Mayaka filed a suit before the Nyamira Magistrate’s Court on September 1, 2023 but Mr Nyaega failed to appear in court to defend himself despite having been summoned.
Resident Magistrate Beniah Okong’o Odhiambo proceeded with the case and established that the Orange Democratic Movement lawmaker’s application had merit.
Accordingly, the magistrate ordered Mr Nyaega to pay the parliamentarian Sh2 million in general damages and a further Sh500,000 as “exemplary, punitive and aggravated damages”.
Agreeing with Ms Mayaka’s prayer to have Mr Nyaega restrained from further defamatory remarks, the magistrate instructed the defendant or anyone acting under his instructions to pull down all the defamatory content from social media.
The court also ordered him to issue an apology on the same platforms on which the defamatory statements were published. Citing the case of Richard Otieno Kwach vs The Standard Limited & David Makali Nairobi HCCA No.1099 of 2004, the magistrate said “words are defamatory if they involve a reflection upon the personal character or official reputation of the plaintiff.”
