Former Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) chief executive officer Ezekiel Mutua has been ordered to pay musician Hubert Mbuku Nakitare, popularly known as Nonini, Sh3 million in damages in a defamation suit over remarks published on social media and made during a radio interview.
Milimani Commercial Magistrate James Gitau awarded Nakitare Sh2.5 million in general damages and a further Sh500,000 in exemplary and aggravated damages after finding that the statements complained of were likely to harm the musician’s reputation.
The court also ordered Mutua to remove the statements found to be defamatory from his social media account within 14 days of the October 26, 2026, judgment and to pay the costs of the suit.
The dispute arose after Nakitare, who had been a member of the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) for 24 years, quit the society in May 2022, citing a lack of substantial royalty payments despite his long career in the music industry.
In January 2024, MCSK announced that it would distribute Sh20,000 in royalties to each of its members, prompting public criticism over the amounts paid to musicians.
Nakitare said he obtained a letter dated January 29, 2024, which Mutua had addressed to the Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO), detailing the society’s collections, distributions and expenditure.
According to Nakitare, MCSK had collected Sh109 million in royalties between January and December 2023 and spent Sh57 million on employee salaries.
He said he subsequently shared the information on his social media accounts to draw attention to the management of royalties collected on behalf of musicians.
Nakitare told the court that Mutua responded to his posts with remarks on his X account that he considered defamatory, and later made further statements he challenged during a radio interview.
The musician argued that the remarks were false and malicious and had harmed his reputation.
Mutua opposed the suit, denying that he had defamed Nakitare and disputing the claims concerning widespread corruption or theft of musicians’ royalties at MCSK.
He maintained that the musician’s claims were blanket allegations and that the suit lacked merit.
In the judgment, the magistrate found that the statements portrayed Nakitare as a fugitive who had left the country to evade the law.
“From a perusal of the remarks complained of, this court is persuaded that such remarks are likely to cause reputational damage as they have the effect of painting the plaintiff (Nakitare) to be a fugitive who is outside the country in a bid to evade the law,” the court ruled.
The magistrate added that the statements had been published and were likely to lower the musician’s standing in the eyes of members of the public.
“These remarks were indeed published and are likely to lower the image of the plaintiff herein in the minds of right-thinking members of society,” the judgment states.
The court consequently found that Nakitare had proved his case on a balance of probabilities.
In assessing damages, the court considered previous defamation cases in which plaintiffs had been awarded Sh2 million and Sh1.5 million over publications found to have harmed their reputations.
The magistrate noted that Nakitare was a public figure and that the impact of the statements was likely to be far-reaching.
The court awarded him Sh3 million in total damages, in addition to the costs of the suit.
