The High Court has issued an interim injunction barring bloggers involved in the defamation case brought by Lugari MP Nabii Nabwera from posting anything regarding the MP until the case has been heard and determined.
In a ruling delivered on Thursday November 13, the court ordered the bloggers to stop posting, circulating or republishing the contested material.
A hearing involving the parties concerned has been set for November 20, where both sides will present their arguments.
This comes just days after the MP filed the defamation lawsuit against bloggers who were reportedly posting inflammatory information linking him to the death of high school principal Simon Isiaho Shange.
During the proceedings, the MP's legal team informed the court that the orders were necessary in order to prevent any further damage to Nabwera’s reputation.
Through his legal team, the MP stressed that the defendants would suffer no prejudice while the defamatory claims were subject to judicial scrutiny.
The MP is suing three Kakamega-based bloggers for running a coordinated online smear campaign against him on various social media pages.
Among the captions accompanying these posts are “vanished after defying an MP” and “MP Nabii Daraja come clean on the death of this teacher”, which the MP relayed portrayed him as being involved in the teacher’s disappearance.
Just a day ago, the court also ordered the bloggers to apologise to the MP for the defamatory social media posts.
The MP is seeking Ksh60 million from the bloggers, with each set to pay him Ksh20 million if he wins the defamation lawsuit filed at the Milimani Commercial Courts.
Before taking the matter to court, the MP's lawyer had written to the bloggers, demanding that they remove the posts, apologise, and compensate him, but they doubled down.
The body of the principal in question was found floating in the Kipkaren River on Saturday, November 8, after he had been missing since Monday, November 3.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) is investigating the death as a homicide, although no suspects have been named yet.
