Dennis Itumbi in the soup as Judge Lenaola threatens suit

Justice Isaac Lenaola. He accuses Mr Itumbi of defaming him on Twitter. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The judge said The Standard published the story before the petition was filed by Derrick Malika Ngumu of Angaza Empowerment Network.

  • He has threatened to move to court and seek compensation, equal to estimated earnings for the remainder of his term, which is about 20 years.

Supreme Court Judge Isaac Lenaola has threatened to sue State House Digital Director Dennis Itumbi over tweets and posts the judge terms as defamatory.

In a letter, through his lawyer Donald Kipkorir, Justice Lenaola has given Mr Itumbi three days to delete all the tweets and apologise to him, failure to which he has threatened to move to court.

APOLOGY

In the letter, the judge says he will file a case and seek award of punitive damages and use the award until he retires at the age of 70.

Other than Mr Itumbi, Judge Lenaola has also written to Standard Media Group demanding an apology over a story the newspaper published on September 19, alleging that he contacted some lawyers and agents during the hearing of the presidential petition that saw President Kenyatta’s victory quashed.

The case was filed by National Super Alliance leader Raila Odinga.

The judge said the paper published the story before the petition was filed by Derrick Malika Ngumu of Angaza Empowerment Network.

JSC CASE

He has threatened to move to court and seek compensation, equal to estimated earnings for the remainder of his term, which is about 20 years.

He has also written to the organisation seeking details of its registration among other information.

The Supreme Court judge, who was among the majority decision which nullified the August 8 presidential election, also wants Safaricom to confirm whether the mobile service provider indeed provided call-logs to Mr Ngumu, or whether any other third parties accessed information in his mobile phone.

He says he wants to use the information to defend himself before the Judicial Service Commission, where a petition seeking to have him investigated over alleged misconduct, has been filed.

If the mobile service operator fails to respond or give the said information, Mr Justice Lenaola has threatened to enjoin Safaricom in the JSC petition.