Anxiety swept through social media on Wednesday afternoon after unconfirmed reports emerged that NTV top anchor Larry Madowo would be thrown behind bars.
A hashtag dubbed #MadowoGoingToJail was initiated by unknown people who indicated that Madowo had lost in his prolonged case against controversial blogger Cyprian Nyakundi.
However, Madowo's lawyer, Donald Kipkorir, was swift to defend his client assuring Kenyans that he was not going to jail.
"Larry Madowo is my client and is not going to any jail. People need to read the ruling of the Magistrate. #MadowoGoingToJail," Kipkorir tweeted.
At the same time, the news anchor expressed confidence in his legal representative stating: “I have complete faith in my lawyer Donald B Kipkorir and the legal system to protect my free speech rights. Also, I'm not going to jail.”
The Trend show host and Nyakundi have been in an unending legal battle with the latter accusing the journalist of defamation.
In 2015, Nyakundi sued Madowo over an article the journalist published on his website, (larrymadowo.co.ke), that incriminated him by insinuating that he (Nyakundi) was being bribed by companies to tarnish competitors' names.
In Madowo's article titled: OF BROKE ‘BIGWIGS,’ SOCIAL MEDIA ‘INFLUENCERS’ AND SH50M TWEETS, the NTV news anchor criticised the blogger over a phone call, bearing a voice believed to be his (Nyakundi), in which he was ostensibly soliciting funds from Bidco, failure to which he would ruin their reputation through social media.
Nyakundi demanded an apology from the news anchor but he remained unmoved and commented that: "One of Kenya's finest lawyers Donald Kipkorir and his esteemed firm KTK Advocates represent me in this frivolous suit by an infamous blogger."
