Veteran media personality Fred Obachi Machoka has formally expressed his willingness to pursue an amicable resolution in the high-profile defamation lawsuit he lodged against Kileleshwa Member of County Assembly (MCA) Robert Alai, a case demanding KSh 60 million in damages. Machoka’s legal counsel informed the court of his client’s readiness to engage in settlement talks, signaling a desire to conclude the matter outside of protracted judicial proceedings.
However, the initiation of any out-of-court dialogue has been immediately complicated by a significant legal obstacle: the defendant, MCA Robert Alai Onyango, is actively challenging the premise of the suit by denying he is the correct person being sued. Alai claims a case of “mistaken identity” and has formally disowned the social media account that published the controversial remarks, asserting that the name and details in the court filings do not accurately match his.
Machoka’s lawyer, Danstan Omari, highlighted the absurdity of the current situation to the court, stating that it is impossible to negotiate a settlement when the opposing party maintains they are not the defendant. Omari stressed that the essential prerequisite for any meaningful engagement must be the conclusive clarification of the identity of the person responsible for the defamatory statements.
The lawsuit itself centers on highly damaging claims made on a Facebook account bearing Alai’s name. Machoka alleges these posts, made with malicious intent, falsely accused him of being HIV positive, suffering from a mental illness, and promoting ethnic-driven rhetoric. In his affidavit, the celebrated broadcaster has vehemently denied all allegations, asserting he is HIV negative and has always championed national unity throughout his near five-decade-long career.
The court’s immediate focus will now shift to resolving this identity dispute, which must be cleared before the court can address the substantive merits of the KSh 60 million defamation claim. Until the true ownership of the offending social media account is legally established, the high-stakes case remains stalled on a procedural technicality, despite Machoka’s public readiness for peace.
