The Milimani Commercial Court has ordered Senator Gloria Orwoba to pay Senate Clerk Jeremiah Nyegenye a total of Kshs. 10.5 million in damages for defamatory social media posts alleging he solicited sexual favours from her.
Magistrate Ruguru N ruled that Orwoba had defamed Nyegenye through WhatsApp status updates, Facebook videos, and posts on her X (formerly Twitter) handle, which implied the Clerk was involved in workplace sexual harassment and demanded “sex for work”.
The court ruled that Orwoba’s posts including hashtags like #ImpeachNyegenye and #NoSexForWork were not only defamatory and malicious but had severely injured Nyegenye’s reputation as a high-ranking public officer, legal practitioner, husband, and father. The judge noted that the senator had provided no proof to substantiate her claims, failed to report the alleged misconduct to investigative bodies, and instead chose to publish the allegations on social media.
“To only state that the Plaintiff made sexual advances without proof is not sufficient,” the court held, emphasizing that the burden of proof lay with Orwoba. Her actions, the court found, were driven by ill-will, intended to scandalize and cause public disgrace to the Clerk.
Nyegenye testified that the allegations had gone viral and were picked up by major outlets including the BBC, causing him immense humiliation. His witness, a senior parliamentary officer, also told the court the claims had deeply damaged his public standing and morale.
The court awarded:
• Kshs. 8 million in general damages for defamation,
• Kshs. 2.5 million in aggravated and exemplary damages, and
• An additional Kshs. 1 million penalty should Orwoba fail to issue a court-approved public apology within 30 days.
Further, Orwoba has been permanently restrained from publishing any further defamatory statements about Nyegenye and is required to publish the apology across her WhatsApp, Facebook, X pages, and a national newspaper.
The ruling underscores the judiciary’s warning against weaponizing social media to tarnish reputations without evidence, especially in matters as serious as sexual harassment.
