A Nairobi court on Monday ordered the arrest of blogger Cyprian Nyakundi over a Twitter post alleged to have defamed the Acting Interior Cabinet Secretary (CS) Fred Matiang'i.
Milimani chief magistrate Francis Andayi made this directive following a plea from the prosecution.
The prosecution made this request after Nyakundi failed to appear in court to answer charges related to the Twitter post believed to have targeted CS Matiang'i.
According to the charge sheet, the blogger posted the tweet on January 23 linked to an article by The Standard titled ‘Vocal Minister in illicit affair with choir girl'.
His message on Twitter indicated that the description of the minister in an affair with the choir girl fit Mr Matiang'i.
[caption caption="Cyprian Nyakundi"]
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The matter was adjourned and will be heard on February 13 for confirmation of whether Nyakundi was arrested as ordered.
Following the article, Matiang'i denied having an affair with a church girl and demanded an apology from Standard Media Group for the wrong publication.
Although the article did not directly refer to the CS, Mwenda Njoka, the Communications Director at the Ministry, stated that the adjectives used in the article have often been used by the media house to refer to Matiang'i.
"In articles previously published in your newspaper, you have used adjectives such as 'no-nonsense, outspoken and strong Christian to describe CS Matiang'i.
[caption caption="CS Fred Matiang'i"]
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"It is for this reason that we have reason to believe that the CS your article was disparagingly referring to is Dr. Matiang'i," stated Njoka.
