Lawyer who sued for defamation to pay suit cost

A Nakuru-based lawyer has been ordered to pay suit cost after a case he had filed against a businessman was dismissed.

Justice Hedwig Ong'udi dismissed lawyer Wilfred Konosi’s suit against Majid Mohamed, saying it lacked merit.

Konosi sued Majid for writing a complaint to the Judicial Service Commission. Konosi in 2019 had applied for the position of a judge of the Environment and Lands Court and was shortlisted for the interview.

JSC then invited the public to provide, in writing, information of interest about any of the applicants for the position.

Majid, in a letter dated May 27, 2019, wrote to JSC, indicating that Konosi was not suitable for the position, terming him a land grabber who had swindled people of their parcels of land and had cases pending in court.

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On July 17, 2019, Konosi appeared before the JSC panel for the interview and was put to task over the claims.

Konosi in the suit filed against Majid, said the words he used in his letter meant he was fraudulent.

He said he was questioned about the contents of the letter and was eventually not nominated for appointment as a Judge of the Environment and Land Court.

Konosi argued that the words used in the letter were libelous and brought his reputation into disrepute and public ridicule in the eyes of right-thinking members of the society and the legal fraternity.

The lawyer sought general, exemplary, and aggravated damages for libel and malicious falsehood and wanted the court to issue a permanent injunction restraining Majid from further publishing or causing to be published the alleged defamatory words.

In the case, JSC was named as a third party.

Majid, in his response, said the suit by Konosi was misconceived, bad in law, and incurably defective as it raises no reasonable cause of action against him.

He argued that in line with the provisions of the Judicial Service Act No. 1 of 2011 and particularly Section 45 (3) of the aforesaid Act, any information or evidence given to JSC by an individual could not be used against him or her in any criminal or civil proceedings since such a person was protected from any personal liability.

Judge Ong'udi noted that Konosi failed to prove that the letter by Majid was published to third parties hence lowering his reputation in the estimation of right minded persons in the society or caused him to be shunned or avoided by other persons.

“I find that the plaintiff has failed to establish his case on a balance of probabilities and the same is hereby dismissed with costs,” ruled the court.