A Magistrate court in Nairobi on Wednesday issued a restraining order on three social media accounts accused of posting defamatory remarks against a clerk of the National Assembly.
The clerk in his petition had accused Nominated Senator Gloria Orwoba of working with 3 social media admins to slander the clerk.
As such, the 3 social media accounts operated by bloggers and influencers were also gagged from reposting any post or statement shared by the Senator, who is currently under suspension for making unsubstantiated claims against the clerk.
“The application be certified as urgent and service of the application be dispensed with and be heard ex-parte in the first instance,” the court ruled.
Apart from the three flagged accounts, the court further barred other social media users from posting defamatory content concerning the clerk.
“Pending the hearing of this application, an order do issue restraining the Defendants, from publishing and/or causing to be published or reposting any publication against the Plaintiff as a sexual predator, or publishing any audio or video clip by the Defendant where the Defendant portrays the Plaintiff as a person soliciting for sexual favours, or any innuendos or juxtapositions against the Plaintiff as a sexual predator,” the court ruling read in part.
The gag was prompted by a post on YouTube which depicted the clerk as a predator who had solicited sexual favours from the Senator.
Going forward, it is now illegal to repost the video on social media platforms.
The nominated senator was suspended from the Senate and Parliament precincts for six months on September 20.
This was after the House adopted a report by the Senate Powers and Privileges Committee that resolved to suspend her after she failed to substantiate the accusations she made against the clerk and appear in the chambers to defend herself on the charges levelled against her.
“The committee considered the evidence before it on this charge and given that there was no evidence to the contrary to refute the charge, the charge was therefore confirmed,” part of the report recommending her six-month suspension read in part.
After the suspension ends, the Senator will be required to apologise to all her colleagues before being readmitted to the House.
Orwoba has so far stuck to her guns maintaining that she was sexually harassed by a clerk within Parliament precincts.
