Extortion, blackmail, intimidation and professional misconduct are among the explosive claims cited in what is shaping up into an epic battle between two senior lawyers who have a huge following on Twitter and other social media platforms.
In documents filed at the High Court in Milimani, Nairobi, Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi accuses Mr Donald Kipkorir of publishing defamatory and libelous claims against him, a claim the defendant denies.
The Judiciary has also been sucked into the legal showdown between the two lawyers, as judges are subject of some of the allegedly offending and defamatory tweets, which also involve claims of bribery.
Mr Abdullahi, who has 1.9 million followers on Twitter, claims Mr Kipkorir (who has 1.3 million followers), defamed him through Twitter by alleging he was blackmailing judges sitting in the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and betraying clients by switching sides in cases.
Mr Abdullahi says Mr Kipkorir defamed him through two tweets published on March 5, 2022 by linking him to professional misconduct and kidnappings of foreigners by a terrorist group.
Through lawyer Omwanza Ombati, Mr Abdullahi says Mr Kipkorir’s Twitter account published the allegedly libelous tweets to disparage him in his profession and business as an advocate and senior counsel.
He says the tweets were posted at 9.29pm and 9.32pm in the Twitter account styled as ‘Donald B Kipkorir’ under Twitter handle ‘@DonaldBKipkorir’.
Defamatory
But Mr Kipkorir denies that the said tweets are defamatory, libelous and scandalous, claiming that Mr Abdullahi had also used his Twitter account to abuse, intimidate, defame and threaten him.
He says Mr Abdullahi is undeserving of any award of damages sought in the suit.
“The said tweets are factual and the defence of truth and justification will be mounted. The tweets are a correct description of the plaintiff’s personal character, professional profile and pedigree as a lawyer,” says Mr Kipkorir in response. He states that on November 2, 2021, the senior counsel published a defamatory tweet against him.
In his rebuttal to accusations of tainting Mr Abdullahi’s professional profile, Mr Kipkorir claims that “the plaintiff has demonstrated a peculiar fecundity to attack, damage and spoilt the reputation of judges of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court, lawyers and members of the public. He tweets with reckless abandon. He has an uncontrolled and acerbic tongue.”
In a further response through lawyer Peter Wanyama, Mr Kipkorir claims Mr Abdullahi had, in January and November 2021, circulated defamatory tweets directed at judges.
Mr Kipkorir adds that Mr Abdullahi was the broker between a terrorist group and families of kidnapped foreigners.
Another claim is that the former chairperson of the Law Society of Kenya used his magazines, the Nairobi Law Monthly and the Nairobi Business Monthly, to intimidate, blackmail and extort money from chief executives of state corporations.
Prior to moving to court, Mr Abdullahi says he issued Mr Kipkorir with a demand and notice to sue.
But Mr Kipkorir, the senior counsel adds, retained “the offending publications on his Twitter page”.
“The defendant posted/published and circulated the offending tweets on his personal Twitter account knowing the same to be false and with the sole object of discrediting, embarrassing and lowering the plaintiff’s dignity in his capacity as a respected member of society and advocate of the High Court of Kenya,” says Mr Ombati for the senior counsel.
He adds that the words used in the tweets cast Mr Abdullahi as complicit in corrupt and immoral activities.
Criminal activity
“The plaintiff (Mr Abdullahi) has no involvement whatsoever in crime, piracy or any criminal activity; nor has he ever been investigated for, charged or convicted of any offence in that regard,” says Mr Ombati.
Stating that he intends to seek injunctive reliefs against Mr Kipkorir pending hearing of the suit, the lawyer says that since the alleged offending publications are still in circulation on a global scale, Mr Abdullahi’s personal and professional reputation is suffering a continuing harm.
He wants Mr Kipkorir stopped from exhibiting the allegedly offensive tweets.
Mr Abdullahi further seeks an apology and damages of unspecified amount for defamation. He also wants the lawyer compelled to pull down the allegedly offending tweets and be permanently barred from further publishing or causing to be published the “offending statements or statements of a similarly defamatory nature against him”.
The suit is pending hearing at the High Court in Milimani, Nairobi.
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