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REPUBLIC OF KENYA IN THE HIGH COURT OF KENYA AT NAIROBI MILIMANI LAW COURTS (CIVIL DIVISION) CIVIL CASE NO.

OF 2012 DENNIS ITUMBI...PLAINTIFF -VERSUSROBERT ALAI..DEFENDANT PLAINT (Fast Track) 1. The Plaintiff is a male adult of sound mind residing and working for gain in Nairobi within the Republic of Kenya. His address for the purposes of this suit is care of Chelanga & Company Advocates, 2nd Floor, Scripture Union Centre, Argwings Kodhek Road-Hurlingham and P.O Box 2916600100 Nairobi. 2. The Plaintiff is informed, believes and alleges that at all time material herein, Defendant is a male adult of sound mind who resides and works for gain in Nairobi within the Republic of Kenya( Service of summons shall be effected through the Plaintiffs advocates offices). 3. The Plaintiff was at the time material to this suit and is an international journalist employed as Bureau Chief with South Africas Journalism.co.za, a continental media think tank. The Plaintiff owns and is a publisher of a group of county based Newspapers by the Title The County Newspaper with wide circulation within the Republic of Kenya. The Plaintiff is also a blogger.

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4.

In such position at the material time mentioned below and before, the Plaintiff was a person of good name and reputation, high moral standing, integrity, professional competence and deservedly held in high esteem by his employers, colleagues, readers and the general public.

5.

Twitter.com (Twitter) is a popular free online social network tool on the World Wide Web used by millions of people around the world to stay connected to their friends, family and associates through computers or mobile phones sharing thoughts, plans, opinions and anything they like to share. Twitter allows users to send and read messages commonly known as Tweets of up to 140 characters.

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Users may have interest in (follow) other users and vice versa. The users tweets are displayed on users profile and delivered to the users followers. The tweets can be reproduced several times through retweeting and sharing in other sites on the World Wide Web.

7.

Users can set their profile pages as either private or public. Private account can only be viewed by persons authorized and approved by the user or. Public account allows anybody in the world with access to the internet to view the users tweets.

8.

The defendant is an account holder and user in twitter with the user name @RobertAlai. At the material time, the Defendants twitter account is public with more than 14,000 followers locally and internationally.

9.

Between 10th to 14th March 2012 in Nairobi within the aforesaid Republic, the Defendant, maliciously and wrongfully composed or caused to be composed

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and wrote or caused to be written, published or caused to be published the following tweets on his twitter account twitter.com/RobertAlai which were false and defamatory to the Plaintiff: Just reading this Leaked Diplomatic Memo. You can just see the hand and common writing mistakes of Itumbi and Moses Kuria on it Fake ICC letter authored by Dennis Itumbi The fake ICC letter which Itumbi authored and gave the MPs to attack Raila Itumbi and Moses Kuria authored the fake ICC document dont give Itumbi and Moses Kuria much airtime with these fake documents they author and distribute for propaganda Some primitive chauvinist who wish to scare Kibaki into not handing over power with such fake memos. Ati ICC want to arrest Kibaki Plaintiff shall at the hearing of the suit refer to each of the statements for their full tenor and effect. 10. The Plaintiff further uploaded and shared the alleged document naming it Fake ICC Document authored by Dennis Itumbi Dennis-Itumbi#). and tweeted the link (http://www.docstoc.com/docs/116236532/Fake-ICC-Letter-authored-by-

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11. The above referred Fake ICC Letter and Leaked Diplomatic Memo suggested among others that the International Criminal Court should detain the Kenyan Deputy Prime Minister Honourable Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North Member of Parliament Honourable William Ruto in addition to investigating with a view of indicting the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kenya His Excellency Honourable Mwai Kibaki for international crimes. 12. The said Fake ICC Letter and Leaked Diplomatic Memo was tabled and discussed in Kenyan parliament and the same is under investigation. 13. The contents of the said tweets in their entirety, either in their natural and ordinary meaning, or by imputations and innuendos meant, were understood to mean and intended to mean that the Plaintiff is: (a) a forger; (b) a felon; (c) corrupt; (d) unethical and unscrupulous; (e) unreliable; (f) a saboteur; (g) a supplier of forgeries to parliament;
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(h) a propagandist; (i) an inciter; (j) intends to destabilize Kenya by dissuading the incumbent president from handing over power ; (k) primitive; (l) a chauvinist; (m) incompetent;

(n) unworthy of any office and employment as a journalist or at all; (o) wanting in the requirement of a journalist; (p) unprofessional and unethical; and (q) professionally and morally unfit for any employment and association. 14. The Defendant falsely and maliciously wrote or caused to be written and published or caused to be published the offending tweets to his more than 14,000 followers and made them accessible to people around the world while knowing that the allegations are untrue or had reckless disregard to their truth or falsity. The same were published and republished on internet websites and were seen and read by potentially millions of people who reside in Kenya and elsewhere.
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15. Whereas the Defendant had right to freely express his opinions, he ought to have respect to the Plaintiffs rights and reputation. 16. Before the publication of the said libelous tweets the Plaintiff in his capacity was an upstanding journalist and member of the society who enjoyed high esteem and respect from his colleagues in the media industry, his associates, public authorities, readers, followers and general public. 17. The said publication was malicious, oppressive, and spiteful and calculated to injure, disparage and lower the esteem with which right thinking members of the local and international society in general regarded and held the Plaintiff. Further the Defendant published the said sensational rant on twitter out of malevolence and spite and without justifiable cause thereby discrediting the good way and the reputation of the Plaintiff. 18. By the publication of the said tweets the Plaintiff has been greatly injured and continues to suffer injuries in character and reputation as a consequence whereof the Plaintiff has been brought into grave public ridicule, hatred, scandal, odium and contempt in the eyes of right thinking members of the society locally and internationally and has greatly injured his occupation by casting aspersion on his integrity and suitability. 19. The Plaintiff also suffers and continues to suffer extreme embarrassment, discomfort and distress as a result of the loss of reputation. 20. After the Defendants extensive rant on twitter and barrage of malicious, false and defamatory statements, the Plaintiff issued a demand notice seeking inter alia removal of the offending tweets and issuance of an appropriate apology.
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Upon receipt of the said demand notice, the Defendant, compounded the libel and proceeded to tweet:
@robjillo FYI I repeat. Dennis Itumbi forged the "Leaked ICC Letter". That can speed up the court case SomeoneTellItumbi If hacking was a tenet of press freedom, then rape would be a key aspect of conjugal rights

This in its ordinary meaning and by innuendo was understood to mean that the Plaintiff was akin to a rapist. And by this the Plaintiff shall claim exemplary damages. 21. On or about 9th April 2012, the Defendant in furtherance of his malicious publications tweeted: I thought some sissy said almost a month ago that he was going to sue me. Courts are locked amah? Plaintiff shall at the hearing of the suit refer to this statement for its full tenor and effect in reference to the Plaintiff and the courts. 22. The above statements were published by Defendant with malice and because of his feelings of hatred and ill-will towards the Plaintiff, and with willful and conscious disregard for the Plaintiffs rights, thereby justifying an award of punitive damages against Defendant. 23. The Plaintiff pleads continuous publication as long as the said tweets remain in the Defendants twitter account.

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24. Despite demand and notice of intention to sue having been issued, the Defendant has failed refused and /or neglected to make good or address the Plaintiffs claim. 25. The Plaintiff avers that there is no other suit pending and there have not been any previous proceedings in any court between the Plaintiff and the Defendant over the same subject matter. 26. The cause of action arose within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court. REASONS WHEREFORE the Plaintiff prays for judgment against the Defendant for: a) b) c) d) e) f) g) An apology and retraction of similar prominence as the defamatory tweets; General Damages for libel; General Damages for malicious falsehood; Exemplary damages; Damages for psychological and emotional distress; Costs of this suit together with interest thereon; and Any other remedy that this Honourable Court may deem fit to award. day of 2012

DATED at NAIROBI this

CHELANGA & COMPANY ADVOCATES FOR THE PLAINTIFF


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Drawn and Filed by: Chelanga & Company Advocates Scripture Union Centre, 2nd Floor, RM.202 Argwings Kodhek Road-Hurlingham P.O. Box 29166-00100 NAIROBI To be served upon: Robert Alai NAIROBI

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REPUBLIC OF KENYA IN THE HIGH COURT OF KENYA AT NAIROBI MILIMANI LAW COURTS (CIVIL DIVISION) CIVIL CASE NO. OF 2012 DENNIS ITUMBI...PLAINTIFF -VERSUSROBERT ALAI..DEFENDANT VERIFYING AFFIDAVIT I, DENNIS ITUMBI of Post Office Box Number 2584-00100 Nairobi in the Republic of Kenya do hereby make oath and state as follows: 1. THAT I am the Plaintiff herein fully conversant with the facts of this suit and therefore competent to swear this affidavit. 2. THAT I have read and understood the Plaint filed herein by the firm of Chelanga & Company Advocates on my instructions. 3. THAT the facts stated in the Plaint are true, correct and within my knowledge. 4. THAT I swear this affidavit in support and verification of the Plaint filed herein. 5. THAT there is no pending suit between myself and the Defendant herein on the subject matter herein.

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THAT the facts deponed herein are true and within my knowledge, information and belief. SWORN at NAIROBI by the said DENNIS ITUMBI This day of 2012 ) ) ) ) ) ) BEFORE ME ) ) ) ) COMMISSIONER OF OATHS Drawn and Filed by: Chelanga & Company Advocates Scripture Union Centre, 2nd Floor, RM.202 Argwings Kodhek Road-Hurlingham P.O. Box 29166-00100 NAIROBI

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REPUBLIC OF KENYA IN THE HIGH COURT OF KENYA AT NAIROBI MILIMANI LAW COURTS (CIVIL DIVISION) CIVIL CASE NO. OF 2012 DENNIS ITUMBI...PLAINTIFF -VERSUSROBERT ALAI..DEFENDANT LIST OF WITNESSES 27. Dennis Itumbi DATED at NAIROBI this day of 2012

CHELANGA & COMPANY ADVOCATES FOR THE PLAINTIFF Drawn and Filed by: Chelanga & Company Advocates Scripture Union Centre, 2nd Floor, RM.202 Argwings Kodhek Road-Hurlingham P.O. Box 29166-00100 NAIROBI To be served upon: Robert Alai NAIROBI

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REPUBLIC OF KENYA IN THE HIGH COURT OF KENYA AT NAIROBI MILIMANI LAW COURTS (CIVIL DIVISION) CIVIL CASE NO. OF 2012 DENNIS ITUMBI...PLAINTIFF -VERSUSROBERT ALAI..DEFENDANT WITNESSES STATEMENT THE STATEMENT OF DENNIS ITUMBI I Dennis Itumbi resident of Nairobi and of post Box Number 2584-00100 Nairobi make this statement as the Plaintiff in this suit and state as follows: 1. At the material time material to this suit, I was and I am an international journalist employed as Bureau Chief with South Africas Journalism.co.za, a continental media think tank. I also own and publish of a group of county based Newspapers by the Title The County Newspaper with wide circulation within the Republic of Kenya in addition to being a blogger. 2. In such position at the material time mentioned below and before, I was a person of good name and reputation, high moral standing, integrity, professional competence and deservedly held in high esteem by my employers, colleagues, readers and the general public. 3. It is in Kenyan public domain that on or about 8th of March 2012, the Member of Parliament for Yatta Hon. Charles Kilonzo tabled in parliament a letter allegedly authored by the British Foreign and Common Wealth Office on the ongoing cases in Situation of the Republic of Kenya in the International Criminal Court.
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4. The alleged letter inter-alia suggested the detention of two Kenyans indicted by the International Criminal Court to wit Honourable Uhuru Kenyatta and Honourable William Ruto in addition to calling for an arrest and indictment the President of the Republic of Kenya Honourable Mwai Kibaki. 5. The alleged document was disowned by Her Majestys government as a forgery and inauthentic. 6. That between 10th and 14th March 20012 I was surprised and perturbed when a twitter user and a blogger whom I know as Robert Alai with his twitter user name @RobertAlai, the Defendant herein falsely tweeted that I was the author of the said document tabled in parliament in the following wordings:

Just reading this Leaked Diplomatic Memo. You can just see the hand and common writing mistakes of Itumbi and Moses Kuria on it Fake ICC letter authored by Dennis Itumbi The fake ICC letter which Itumbi authored and gave the MPs to attack Raila Itumbi and Moses Kuria authored the fake ICC document dont give Itumbi and Moses Kuria much airtime with these fake documents they author and distribute for propaganda Some primitive chauvinist who wish to scare Kibaki into not handing over power with such fake memos. Ati ICC want to arrest Kibaki

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7. The

Defendant

went

ahead

and

send

the

alleged

document

to

<http://www.docstoc.com/docs/116236532/Fake-ICC-Letter-authored-by-DennisItumbi > titling it Fake ICC Letter Authored by Dennis Itumbi and shared the same on the World Wide Web. 8. The above tweets were republished within twitter, shared on facebook and made generally available online. 9. My family members, friends, colleagues and associate who are users of Twitter and Face book and with access to internet were concerned about the said publications and sought to inquire from me further why allegations are made against me online that I forged documents and handed over the same to mislead Members of Parliament and the country at large.

10. The above publications were malicious, oppressive, and spiteful and calculated to injure, disparage and lower the esteem with which right thinking members of the local and international society in general regarded and held me. Further the Defendant published the said sensational rant on twitter out of malevolence and spite and without justifiable cause thereby discrediting my good way and the reputation.

11. By the publication of the said tweets, I have been greatly injured and continues to suffer injuries in character and reputation as a consequence whereof I have been brought into grave public ridicule, hatred, scandal, odium and contempt in the eyes of right thinking members of the society locally and internationally and has greatly injured my occupation as a journalist by casting aspersion on my integrity and suitability.

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12. I instructed the firm of Chelanga & Company Advocates to issue a demand notice to the Defendant seeking the retraction of the tweets and issue an appropriate apology. Upon receipt of the same, the Defendant instead maliciously proceeded to tweet in the following text: @robjillo FYI I repeat. Dennis Itumbi forged the "Leaked ICC Letter". That can speed up the court case SomeoneTellItumbi If hacking was a tenet of press freedom, then rape would be a key aspect of conjugal rights I thought some sissy said almost a month ago that he was going to sue me. Courts are locked amah? 13. Because of the wide circulation of the said tweets, the Criminal Investigation Department of the Kenya Police -Cyber Crime Unit arrested and questioned me over the said allegations but later released me without preferring any charges. The Parliamentary departmental committee on defence and foreign relations have summoned me to expound the allegations. 14. I wish to state that as a result of the said tweets and conduct of the Defendant, I have suffered irreparable loss of reputation professionally as a journalist and have caused great distress, contempt, ridicule and embarrassment to my person. 15. I therefore bring this suit to seek the reliefs prayed in the plaint filed herein. DATED AT NAIROBI THIS DENNIS ITUMBI IN PRESENCE OF DAY OF 2012

)___________________________________________ ) ) )

ADVOCATE
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Drawn and Filed by: Chelanga & Company Advocates Scripture Union Centre, 2nd Floor, RM.202 Argwings Kodhek Road-Hurlingham P.O. Box 29166-00100 NAIROBI To be served upon: Robert Alai NAIROBI

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REPUBLIC OF KENYA IN THE HIGH COURT OF KENYA AT NAIROBI MILIMANI LAW COURTS (CIVIL DIVISION) CIVIL CASE NO. OF 2012 DENNIS ITUMBI...PLAINTIFF -VERSUSROBERT ALAI..DEFENDANT LIST AND COPIES OF DOCUMENTSS 28. The Tweets; 29. The alleged Letter; 30. Letter from National Assembly; and 31. Demand Letter. DATED at NAIROBI this day of 2012

CHELANGA & COMPANY ADVOCATES FOR THE PLAINTIFF Drawn and Filed by: Chelanga & Company Advocates Scripture Union Centre, 2nd Floor, RM.202 Argwings Kodhek Road-Hurlingham P.O. Box 29166-00100 NAIROBI To be served upon: Robert Alai
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NAIROBI

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