Kenyan international midfielder Victor Wanyama has sought legal redress against controversial blogger Arthur Mandela popularly known as X-tian Dela.
The blogger hosted a guest on his show, which is streamed live on Instagram, who claimed that she had been intimate with Wanyama and a host of other celebrities.
"I wish to distance myself completely from the contents of this defamatory video. The allegations made therein are a total fabrication and a figment of the maker's imagination at best.
"I have never met any party in the video. I strongly condemn the actions of both the woman in the video and the publisher of the video Arthur Mandela, via his Instagram account @Xtiandela, for encouraging the disparagement of character of the individuals based on false accusatory statements," Wanyama stated in a press release.
He explained that he had worked too hard to build his character and standing in society for his reputation to be tarnished.
The footballer said he was ready to go to whatever lengths necessary to protect his image.
Defamation in Kenya is governed by the Defamation Act of Kenya which protects individuals from libel and slander.
"A statement is defamatory of the person of whom it is published if it tends to lower him/her in the estimation of right thinking members of society generally or if it exposes him/her to public hatred, contempt or ridicule or if it causes him to be shunned or avoided," the law reads.
The court, in Musikari Kombo v Royal Media Services Limited [2018], ruled that repetition of someone else’s libelous statement was just as bad as making the statement directly.
Dela has had multiple court cases over his content some of which have led to his arrest.
In April 2020 the blogger was under the radar of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations for allegedly broadcasting obscene material in his show dubbed #ClubCovid.
Parents who filed a formal complaint at Muthaiga Police Station were concerned with the reportedly moral corruption and decadence brought by Mandela, apprehensive of the fact that teenagers and many other children around the country may be exposed to his "illegal and immoral activities".
