A Kiambu County MCA has obtained court orders restraining viral Facebook group Dead Beat Kenya from publishing anything about him. Ngewa ward MCA Paul Thangwa had sued the page, and its founder Jackson Njeru, after it published reports of a woman claiming that he had failed to support a child they sired when they were in a relationship years back. Through advocate Ndegwa Njiro, the ward representative told the court that he has been defamed by the Dead Beat Kenya Facebook administrator, Jackson Njeru, and the alleged child's mother, Jackline Mwende, who are portraying him as an irresponsible father who has refused to take care of his child. Chief magistrate Charles Obulutsa barred the page from further writing, printing and publishing statements that are defamatory to the plaintiff. The MCA said that his reputation has been affected greatly and since the story emerged, he has been exposed to ridicule, hatred and the social media site has demeaned his character, integrity and capability to lead. He is seeking general and punitive damages for defamation, a compelling order directing the administrators to delete the post from their group page and a complete and unequivocal withdrawal, retraction and apology from Dead Beat Kenya. Dead Beat Kenya has gained a lot of followers within the few days of its existence, attracting over 155,000 members in little than a week. The group allows parents who believe that either a child's mother or father has acted irresponsibly to post their name, phone number and even their photograph for the readers to see and shame them. The group administrator recently told the BBC’s Focus on Africa programme that they first try to verify any information given to them before publishing it. "We first call the person who is accusing, then we call the accused. From there if the person is not willing to take care of his or her own responsibility, that's when we approve the post,” Njeru said. The case will be heard on September 24 this year.

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