Court awards Jimmy Wanjigi Sh8 million for fake obituary

The High Court has ordered the Nation Media Group to pay businessman Jimmy Wanjigi (pictured) and his wife Irene Sh8 million for a false obituary published in February last year claiming he was dead.

High Court Judge Wilfrida Okwany ruled that the publication breached Wanjigi’s privacy. It dismissed the paper’s claim that it was a third party in the case since an unnamed man paid for the false obituary.

The judge ruled that the newspaper enjoyed profit from the obituary and awarded Wanjigi Sh4 million and his wife an equal amount for causing her anguish and pain. "Nation owed a duty of care to make sure that it published accurate and fair information.

They carried the obituary hence gained monetary benefit from it,” the judge ruled.