Former Sports Cabinet Secretary Rashid Echesa has moved to court seeking damages and injunctive relief over what he terms a malicious and defamatory broadcast aired on Obinna TV platforms following the Malava Constituency elections.
In a fast-track plaint filed at the Milimani Commercial Division, Echesa accuses Seth Panyako, Obinna TV Extra and Obinna TV Studios, and Obinna TV Ltd of publishing grave criminal allegations against him during a live programme titled “Obinna Show Live: They Tried to Kill Me – Seth Panyako.”
Echesa says that during the broadcast, Panyako alleged on air that he led armed groups alongside police officers, orchestrated violent attacks in the dark, caused deaths, and personally burned a vehicle, claims the plaintiff says are entirely false, reckless, and unsupported by any evidence. The plaint reproduces timestamps and excerpts in which Echesa is portrayed as a murderer, arsonist, and leader of violent gangs.
According to the suit, the programme was hosted, produced, edited, and disseminated by Obinna TV across YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, WhatsApp, and other platforms with global reach. Echesa states that as at December 4, 2025, the channels commanded hundreds of thousands of subscribers and followers, and that the video alone surpassed 100,000 views while remaining publicly accessible.
The plaintiff argues that the media entities exercised editorial and operational control, derived commercial benefit from the broadcast, and failed to verify, moderate, restrain, or take down the content, rendering them jointly and severally liable with the first defendant. He says no right of reply was sought or published despite the seriousness of the allegations.
Echesa, who currently chairs the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, says the publications have gravely injured his reputation, exposed him to public hatred and ridicule, and diminished public confidence in his leadership locally and internationally. He also cites anxiety, emotional distress, and impairment of his professional standing.
The plaint pleads express malice and negligence, pointing to the publication of serious criminal accusations without verification, the use of inflammatory language, and persistence with publication despite notice and demand. Echesa says the defendants ignored demands for a written apology, unconditional retraction, and admission of liability.
He is seeking a declaration that the publications were defamatory, a permanent injunction restraining further publication, a full retraction and unconditional apology in a daily newspaper, general and aggravated damages, costs, and interest.
