Standard Media's author and columnist Tony Mochama was awarded Sh9 million on Monday after it was discovered that he had been wrongly accused of sexual harassment by two female activists.
The activists, Shailja Patel and Prof Wambui Mwangi, had accused Mochama of harassing them sexually during a meeting that took place on September 20, 2014.
The three are alleged to have met at Wambui's place on the said date to deliberate on the Africa Poetry Book Fund.
Mochama had moved to court shortly after the two women begun a campaign against him on social media.
During the ruling by magistrate A.M Obura in a Nairobi court on Monday, the two ladies were found to have falsely accused Mochama. They were also barred from publishing any malicious content against him.
“My view is that the words were defamatory and were calculated to ridicule or lower the Plaintiff’s esteem in the eyes of the public through social media,” Obura stated as quoted by the edaily.
The court also reminded the two ladies that it was wrong to publish damaging statements against a person on social media.
“...should have known that it is reckless and ill-advised to resort to social media to give damaging information concerning a person without any evidence or legal basis,” Obura noted.
The court consequently awarded Mochama Sh8 million for the damage caused by the statements issued against him and an additional Sh1 million as punitive and exemplary damages.