Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru on Friday, December 20, backed down on her threat to sue rapper Kennedy Ombima alias King Kaka over his latest song titled Wajinga Nyinyi.
Through Twitter, Waiguru described King Kaka as an attention-seeking young man who had been misadvised to misuse his talent by politicians.
"Having watched the antics of King Kaka in the last couple of days with reports of fake assassination attempts and DCI summons, I recognise that he’s a confused attention-seeking young man. I have therefore made the decision not to proceed with the King Kaka suit.
"It is unfortunate when talented youth are taken advantage of by some politicians and used to settle political scores. As I have chosen in previous occasions of this nature, I will contend with their masters," wrote Waiguru on Twitter.
On Monday, December 16, Waiguru threatened to sue the rapper over a song she found defamatory titled 'Wajinga Nyinyi'.
Through her lawyers Paul Kiragu Wathuta, the county chief faulted King Kaka for deliberately failing to verify the authenticity and accuracy of contents in his hit song.
"You have uttered various allegations and innuendos concerning our client which are wholly false and deceptive and without any bias whatsoever and which have amounted to gross and blatant misrepresentation of facts and deliberate mischaracterization of our client's conduct.
"As a direct consequence of the allegations contained in the song, our client has suffered and continues to suffer damage to her reputation which is incalculable and largely irredeemable," the suit papers read in part.
Waiguru, through her lawyer, further placed demands on the rapper to pull down the song that now has over 2 million views on YouTube and also render an apology for what she described as defaming her.
"The permanent, immediate and unconditional withdrawal, pulling down and /or deletion of the song from all social media platforms including but not limited to Twitter and YouTube.
"A full and unconditional admission of liability in writing and an unconditional confirmation and commitment in writing not to release any further defamatory songs or words against our client," he stated.
However, on Tuesday, December 17, Waiguru indicated support to some of the content in King Kaka's song moments after her threat to sue King Kaka attracted public attention, many Kenyans showing support for the rapper.
Kenyans were quick to respond to the latest development from Kaka's artistic work that highlighted the contribution of artistes into the fight against endemic corruption in the country.
Anne Ndegwa wrote;
"Great. That's laudable but I doubt he is a confused young man. Rather, he is an angry young man. Angry at the ineptness of the government. Angry at us voters who keep voting them in,"
Bravin Yuri wrote;
"Your lawyers were ill-advised. You couldn't win the case. Meanwhile, Keep uniting Mt. Kenya,"
Joy Kimaiyo added;
"Why would he be a confused attention-seeking young man at this rate in which Kenya is going down because of corruption, I think even animals can't be confused,"
In a quick response, one of Kaka's lawyers Nelson Havi indicated that the governor only decided to back down less than an hour after receiving their response.
"She retreated after [the] sight of [the] defense arsenal! Check the time of service of my letter and her retraction of demand.
"She was served at 1.23 pm and recoiled at 2.21 pm!," wrote Havi on Twitter.
