Former maritime Principal Secretary Nancy Karigithu has sued two employees of the Kenya Maritime Authority over alleged defamation for linking her to graft and abuse of office.
In a petition filed at the High Court in Milimani Nairobi, Ms Karigithu accuses Oliver Kiptanui and Cosmas Cherop of defaming her through online and social media platforms.
"Since the month of June 2022 to date, Mr Kiptanui and Mr Cherop have embarked on hate and smear campaigns against me. I have reasonable grounds for believing that their campaign is aimed at gravely injuring my dignity and reputation," says Ms Karigithu.
She claims that the smear campaign is intended to frustrate her bid to contest for the post of Secretary-General of the International Marine Organization (IMO) which is due to fall vacant this year.
Ms Karigithu, who is currently Kenya's Special Envoy for Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs, has since been nominated as Kenya's candidate for the IMO position.
President William Ruto endorsed her candidature last November.
The former PS asserts that the two employees of the maritime agency have continued to author and publish or cause to be authored and published false and malicious letters, messages, posts and articles to various addresses and on social media platforms.
She says the articles have falsely portrayed her as an “evil, corrupt, unethical and immoral person, a cheat and generally a person who is unfit to hold public office".
She alleges that the duo authored a defamatory letter dated November 3, 2022, addressed to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission chief executive linking her to fraud, embezzlement, misappropriation of public funds, abuse of office, breach of trust and dishonesty.
