Dennis Itumbi says Judge Lenaola deserves no apology from him
State House Digital Director Dennis Itumbi whos is accused by Supreme Court Judge Isaac Lenaola of defaming him on Twitter. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Supreme Court Judge Isaac Lenaola has threatened to sue State House Digital Director Dennis Itumbi over tweets and posts the judge terms as defamatory.
- Mr Itumbi says he has no apology since Justice Lenaola is in a state office that attracts vigorous and rigorous public scrutiny in his life.
President Uhuru Kenyatta’s head of digital communication Dennis Itumbi has defended his comments on social media which the Supreme Court Judge Isaac Lenaola termed as offensive and an assault on his character.
In a letter from his lawyers, Mr Itumbi denies allegations that what he posted on his twitter account about the judge were an attack to his character hence do not require an apology.
“Any comments that may have been made by our clients simply rehashed and regurgitated the content of the presidential election petition and were incapable of hurting the judge’s reputation beyond the effect of that case where Justice Lenaola’s rights remain preserved,” read the letter from the firm of Chelanga Kihungu Associates.
STATE OFFICE
According to Mr Itumbi, Justice Lenaola is in a state office that attracts vigorous and rigorous public scrutiny in his life especially when hearing, handling and determining disputes relating to the elections of the president.
He says that the judge’s position as per the constitution places him at a higher pedestal therefore he cannot purport to hide under the skirt of a libel suit when scrutinised.
He further says that the concluded presidential election petition filed by the Opposition National Super Alliance will continue to attract both positive and negative comments from Kenyans of all walks of life hence the judge should simply ‘develop a thick skin enough to accommodate others right to have unflattering opinion of him.
TWITTER POSTS
He has also termed the judge’s threat to him to sue him over the alleged offensive posts as an attempt to respond to the petition filed before the Judicial Service Commission seeking his removal from office, using a wrong forum.
He further faults the judge for not responding to the petition and merely attempting to divert public attention from the grave issues that he is facing.
Through lawyer Donald Kipkorir, Justice Lenoala formally wrote to telecommunication service provider Safaricom demanding to know how his private call records could have been accessed by Derrick Ngumu who filed the petition seeking his removal from office before the JSC.
In the letter, the judge also threatened to sue Mr Itumbi and The Standard newspaper for spreading falsehoods through their respective platforms.
