ORENGO FORCED TO PAY KSH1M TO ONGWAE'S MOTHER FOR INSULTING HER.

Siaya court ruling requiring Governor James Orengo to pay Ksh1 million to the mother of former Kisii governor James Ongwae for insulting her during a political rally in Kisii County on February 17, 2024, hosted by the Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya Coalition party, dealt a serious blow to the governor.
In retaliation for Governor Orengo's slanderous remarks against Grace Moraa Ongwae, 97, whose words were extensively shared on social media and YouTube, Kisii Senior Resident Magistrate Paul Mutui fined him Ksh1 million.
Additionally, Orengo has been given instructions by Mutai to upload and publish a sincere apology that receives national attention on par with that of Ongwae's mother.
A permanent injunction prohibiting Orengo and his representatives or employees from replicating or facilitating the publication of any further defamatory statements about Moraa has also been ordered by the court.
The magistrate determined that Ongwae's mother had proven the defamation complaint against Orengo beyond a reasonable doubt, through attorney Peter Wanyama, and thus awarded the damages.
"I am confident that every component of defamation has been established. Additionally, the court determined that governor Orengo, the respondent, did not exhibit any regret for his acts during his hearing before Magistrate Mutai, and that he even defended his attack on the petitioner.
Moraa filed the defamation lawsuit last year, claiming that Governor Orengo had violated her right to human dignity on February 17, 2023, when he made remarks about her that were offensive, vulgar, crude, false, and derogatory. Since then, the residents of Kisii County have ridiculed, hated, and mocked her, portraying her in a negative light.
According to reports, Orengo made the derogatory remarks against Ongwae's mother on March 20, 2023, during a public protest organized by the Azimio coalition in Kisii. The rally was a part of the nationwide demonstrations that were scheduled for that day.
In order to destroy her reputation with her friends, family, Kisii County residents, and the state, Ongwae's mother told the court during the hearing, "the defendant (Orengo) referred to me as a mother incapable of raising a person deserving of a position of such high stature without any basis."
"Orengo violated my right to human dignity by slandering me with a baseless, untrue, and disparaging statement. My reputation has been severely harmed by Orengo's comments, and the public has begun to criticize and make fun of me, as well as to tease, ostracize, and suspect me," Moraa continued.
At the hearing, the court was told that Moraa and her husband became aware of defamatory remarks when they heard Orengo repeatedly say the offensive words on the radio in their Kisii village home.
Ongwae's father told the court that direct confrontation was the best course of action if Orengo had a political issue with his son, and that his wife Moraa didn't need to get involved.
Through attorney Wanyama, Moraa said Orengo made the alleged disparaging comments about her and Ongwae because the latter chose to join President William Ruto's United Democratic Alliance rather than the Azimio coalition.

According to Ongwae's mother, the governor humiliated her by using disparaging language and pulled her name into his remarks. The court documents state that the speech was given in Kiswahili. Wanyama said the court that Orengo had purposefully incited suspicion, derision, and scorn since Moraa's son, a well-known public personality, had lately switched from the opposition Azimio la Umoja coalition to the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA).
"Orengo used disparaging language with the intention of embarrassing, discrediting, and defaming Moraa. In addition to being false, the assertion was made without any evidence and was offensive to Ongwae's mother, Wanyama continued.
Ongwae "received numerous telephone calls from persons in shock and disappointed by the humiliating address delivered by Governor Orengo" as a result of the false claims.

Wanyama claims that because Governor Ongwae is a well-known figure in society, many people heard the governor's statement.
The lawyer claims the claimed disparaging statement was posted on an online YouTube channel because Orengo has a lot of influence.
According to Wanyama, "the particular utterance attracted a sizable audience, as evidenced by its publication on the aforementioned digital platform, which boasts 581,000 subscribers