Nyali Member of Parliament Mohammed Ali, popularly known as Moha Jicho Pevu, gave his Suna East counterpart Junet Mohammed a seven-day ultimatum following a tweet he termed defamatory.
In a demand letter dated Thursday, September 15, the lawmaker demanded an apology from Junet accompanied with admission of liability for libel.
He further threatened to seek legal redress should the Suna East MP, who got selected as the National Assembly Majority Whip, fail to honour the demands.
"Our explicit, clear and stern instructions are to demand, as we hereby do, the strict compliance of the following: Your immediate publication of a suitable retraction, correction and apology, the same to be given a prominent coverage as the tweet complained of above.
"Your unconditional admission of liability for libel, such admission to be received by us within seven (7) days from the date of receipt of this letter after which we shall delve into the issue of quantum payable to our client," read the demand letter signed by Mckay & Company Advocates partner Eric Kivuva and addressed to Junet.
In the letter, the lawyer argued that the tweet was defamatory to Jicho Pevu lowering his character in the estimation of right-thinking persons in society.
The lawmaker further claimed that it exposed him to hatred, contempt and ridicule, as well as injuring his reputation in his personal and public life, trade and profession.
The tweet, which contained unsavory terms, was shared widely and attracted 1,756 comments, 233 quoted tweets, 1,075 retweets and 4,954 likes from Twitter users.
"When our client demanded to know why you were defaming him, you simply said that you had called 10 people who had told you that the lady you recklessly called a slut works for our client.
"It is beyond reasonable doubt that you deliberately and unfairly targeted our client and maliciously sought to tarnish his reputation," the letter added.
The lawyer also linked Moha Jicho Pevu moniker to Mohammed Ali who he argued was widely referred to by the former name since his days hosting the hit investigative show, Jicho Pevu, on KTN from he received 17 awards.
"As a matter of fact, when one conducts a simple google search of the term 'Jicho Pevu', out of the 294 images displayed, 252 are clear images of Our Client.
"Further, the famous online search engine Wikipedia.org also describes Our Client as the 'Hon Mohamed Ali who is popularly known as Moha Jicho Pevu...'" Kivuva argued.
