Murang’a Governor Irungu Kang’ata has been paid Ksh 12 million in a defamatory case pitting media companies Royal Media Services (RMS) and Mediamax Ltd.
The governor sued the two media outlets over stories published on their websites in 2021 when he was serving as Murang’a senator.
In the cases filed before Milimani Courts, Kang’ata argued that video clips published by RMS and Mediamax were malicious corrupted to taint his reputation.
The governor argued that the two outlets published the corrupted version of the video, associating him with bad morals.
The fake video was drawn from his failed attempt to address the Senate from his car when then-Senate Speaker Ken Lusaka denied him the chance to speak because of his location.
Lusaka asked Kang’ata to physically present himself at the senate and make his address.
However, various reports, including those from RMS and Mediamax claimed that he was denied audience because he was at an entertainment joint.
However, Kang’ata denied the claims noting that he is a church-goer, a husband and a mentor to young people.
The governor added that he even supplied the media outlets the original version of the video with a request to pull down the corrupted version.
In their defense, the two media houses had denied the claims and defended the publications saying they were done in good faith, without malice and not intended to injure Kang’ata’s reputation.
As a result, the two media houses reached an out-of-court deal where RMS agreed to pay Kang’ata Ksh 6 million while Mediamax paid him Ksh 6 million.
