The Court of Appeal on Monday revived a defamation case filed against Principal Secretary (PS) in charge of Ministry of Devolution, Nelson Marwa, by Mombasa County Speaker Harub Ebrahim Kharti.,
Judges Alnashir Vishram, Wanjiru Karanja and Martha Koome ruled that the Devolution PS could not hide behind the Government Act or cite immunity in the suit, which had been initially revoked by High Court Judge Njoki Mwangi.
Marwa was, therefore, ordered to respond to the case which had put him on the spot for linking the Mombasa speaker to drug trafficking and illegal gun possession.
Mr Kharti sued the former Coast Regional Co-ordinator for the remarks claiming that Marwa and other security officers called for a press conference on the January 14 and made defamatory comments against him.
[caption caption="Devolution PS Nelson Marwa and Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho (Facebook)"]
[/caption]
Nonetheless, the matter was quashed in court by Justice Njoki who claimed that the provisions of the Government Proceedings Act insulated Marwa.
The Judge claimed that Marwa could not be sued in his capacity because he uttered the words as the Coast Regional Co-ordinator.
The Attorney General (AG) and Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), who made an application to back the case, argued that Marwa uttered the words when he was in official uniform and besieged by Police officers - proof that he was acting as a Government agent.
This decision was, however, reversed by the Court of Appeal judges who ruled that Government Proceedings Act only protected State officials acting in good faith and when the acts were proved to be Government policy.
"In Marwa's absence, we entertain considerable doubt as to whether the appellant (Kharti) would be able to proceed with the claim.
"If the only way in which the appellant was to be able to vent his claims in a court of law was through the first defendant (Marwa), in our view he should be removed from the seat of justice," the judges ruled.
[caption caption="Mombasa County Speaker Harub Ebrahim Kharti (Twitter)"]
[/caption]
