Court rejects PS Korir's bid to silence allegations over illegally acquired Embakasi land.
Lands and Physical Planning Principal Secretary Nixon Korir.
A Nairobi court has dismissed an application by Lands Principal Secretary Nixon Korir seeking to stop claims linking him to alleged misappropriation of funds meant for members of the Dupoto Settlement Scheme.
In the ruling on June 30, Milimani magistrate Becky Cheloti dismissed the claims by the PS, saying he failed to show how the allegations were defamatory.
“In view of the fact that, the prayer fails to capture with precision and exactitude, the alleged defamatory words to be restrained, an injunction cannot be granted. The Notice of Motion Application dated 03.04.2025, is hereby dismissed,” the ruling reads.
In the application, the PS had asked the court to issue an order restraining Thomas Letangule, Letangule & Company advocates and Abdulhakim Dahir Sheikh, Dahir, Affey & associates, from further making allegations linking him to the payments.
The PS is among the government officials who have been mentioned in the acquisition of a 93-acre parcel of land located in Embakasi area.
He had claimed that in March this year, he was served with two letters dated March 7 and March 13 by the law firms and addressed to Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, Directorate of Criminal Investigation and Director of Public Prosecution, claiming that he had taken part in the illegal acquisition of land.
The PS had further claimed that while the letters were addressed to specific holders of the mentioned offices, they were widely circulated among members of the public on social media platforms, hence causing members of the public to question his reputation and ability to serve Kenyans.
“It is the applicant’s further case that, the letters were published by the respondents, and their publication, have resulted in the creation and false impression of his character and reputation that he is a fraud, corrupt public officer, with unethical conduct with no regard to public interest, and is guilty of abuse of office.”
However, Letangule and Abdulhakim responded that the contents of the letter were fair comment and that the PS had not proved they circulated the letter via social media, or to any other person, and no letter has been produced to show that Mr Korir’s reputation had been lowered.
“Therefore, the injunction ought not to be granted, as the applicant has not proved the falsity of the contents, the respondent has defences which have high probability of success, there is no evidence of intention to repeat publication and that the letters were only made to investigative bodies,” the court papers read.
Early this year, over 300 disgruntled members of the Maa community who were the original occupants of Dupoto land had addressed the Directorate of Criminal Investigation over the matter, stating that senior government officials, including the PS, and the National Land Commission (NLC) duped them to withdraw a case in High Court last year promising to settle their claim running in excess of Sh2.7billion.
Despite the said amount being approved, the beneficiaries did not receive the money and have been taken around since then, threatening to reclaim their land.