A Machakos High court has sentenced Boniface Mwangi to two months in jail or pay a fine of 300,000. This is on grounds of defamation after he was found guilty for contempt of court in a case against Dr Alfred Mutua.
The activist had been sued by Tourism Cabinet Secretary, Alfred Mutua for defamation. This is after Mwangi claimed that Mutua bombed his house in October 2021 while serving as the Machakos Governor.
In a statement, the Activist said he has been fined by the court or face jail term.
“I have been found guilty of contempt of court. Sentenced to two months in prison or pay a fine of Ksh 300,000. l can no longer post who bombed our home. Water is wet, the pope is Catholic, and everyone knows who bombed our home.”
Mwangi was found in contempt when he ignored court summons twice. Instead he posted content related to the case on his twitter handle on 6th and 9th January 2022.
“Having briefly read the ruling, the court has found you in contempt of court and directed that you appear in person to show cause why you should not be sent to civil jail. Mwangi disobeyed the order on 6th and 9th January 2022 by publishing on his Twitter account content against Governor Mutua.” This is according to his lawyer Harrison Kinyanjui at the time.
Mwangi had earlier claimed that Mutua had sent people to bomb his house, statements that were defamatory. This led to a law suit against him. It’s however unclear which path the Activist will take but most likely, he’ll pay the fine.