Idemia Identity and Security France, the French firm that supplied Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) with technology equipment used during last year’s general election has now sued Opposition leader Raila Odinga and the three other National Super Alliance co-principals for defamation.
Formerly known as Safran Morpho, the company supplied the electoral commission with electronic systems used to identify voters and transmit election results.
In a suit filed at the Nairobi High Court on April 17th by CM Advocates LLP, the firm lists Raila, Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, ANC’s Musalia Mudavadi and Moses Wetang’ula of Ford Kenya as respondents in the case.
Other defendants are Suna East Member of Parliament Junet Mohamed, ODM director of communications Philip Etale, the Nation Media Group and Radio Africa Group.
In its suit, the technology company wants the court to bar the respondents from further making any statements or publishing defamatory articles against it.
The firm accuses the respondents of linking it to irregularities that led to the nullification of August 8th, 2017 presidential elections by the Supreme Court, adding that their claims injured the reputation of the company.
It also want the court to compel the media houses to pull down all articles about it already published on different online platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook and websites.
“The sensational manner in which the publication of the articles were headed was clearly intended to cause irreparable damage to the plaintiffs by ensuring that the whole world learns of the alleged unethical conduct in the most damaging way possible,” the suit papers read.
“By the reason of the defendants’ defamatory statements, the plaintiff’s reputation has been lowered in the estimation of right thinking members of the public,” the company says.
In a sworn affidavit, Yves Charvin, a resident lawyer for the firm, says that IEBC contracted the company to supply the necessary technology to power the Kenya Integrated Elections Management System (KIEMS), which it executed diligently.
“The plaintiff states that it diligently executed the contract to the expectation of the IEBC and the contract terms,” Charvin says in the affidavit.
The case is set for hearing on May 30th at Milimani law courts.
This might be especially…
This might be especially tricky after the handshake. You know we Kenyans prefer to move on after such incidents have been resolved and only revisit when it doesn’t work out. You might want to wait until the next fall out. Please note the public will have moved on by then.