Sports Cabinet Secretary Abbau Namwamba has donated Sh9 million awarded to him in a defamation case against the Standard media group to his charity, Ababu Namwamba Foundation (ANF)
This is after the High Court ruled that a story published against CS Namwamba by the Nairobian in 2018 defamed him and awarded him Sh9 million as damages.
The Sports CS donated the money to ANF to mark his 48th birthday on December 23. He noted that the funds will benefit vulnerable students and youths.
“Today, on my birthday, I donate the entirety of the Kshs 9 million to charity. As Ababu Namwamba Foundation (ANF) marks its 20th Anniversary, its Board of Trustees will receive the money to establish a revolving endowment fund to support fees for vulnerable students and to empower transformative youth initiatives,” Namwamba stated.
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CS Namwamba at the same time said no amount of money would sufficiently restitute him and his family from the pain and public shame that was occasioned by the publication.
“It is a tiny measure of relief for the utter horror endured in the five long years the wheels of justice have ground on. But it is well. In the words of Martin Luther King, ‘We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice’,” he stated.
According to Namwamba the Standard Group admitted they published a story based on fake sources and believed the stories were true and only discovered later that the interviewees were imposters and the information was false.
The Sports CS further stated that the case should serve as a lesson to journalists to be responsible in their work.
“May the Kshs 9 million awarded to me as damages serve as yet another stark lesson to journalists and the media to maintain fidelity to the straight and narrow of responsible reporting anchored on fact and not actuated by malice or recklessness,” Namwamba added.
