Court bars Alai from publishing offensive posts on Mediheal Hospital

A judge has granted orders barring blogger Robert Alai from publishing defamatory posts and tweets against Mediheal Hospital and its director Swarup Mishra.

Justice Hedwig Ong’udi said the posts tabled in court are offensive and any patient reading the posts would not want to be associated with the said hospital.

The judge said the loss of reputation must be guarded until the matter is determined as monetary damages are unlikely to compensate such injury.

“For now, what should be done is to stop the publishing of the offensive posts and tweets. The court will after hearing all the evidence determine whether the author of the posts is the defendant or another Robert Alai as alleged,” she said.

Mr Alai has denied being the author of the posts saying someone else could be using his name.

Denting hospital’s image

Mr Mishra also wanted the blogger directed to remove the posts he made concerning the hospital, saying they were denting the image of the hospital locally and internationally.

“Unless a restraining order is issued, Alai will continue to spread malicious falsehoods about the hospital leading to economic loss, and a dented image which for a hospital is quite critical,” he said.

Mediheal has hospitals in Kenya, Rwanda and Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.

He said the tweets were defamatory and have caused him and the hospital embarrassment while the blogger was making profits. The court heard that the tweets and Facebook posts were affecting the hospital yet they are false.

Although he dissociated himself with the tweets, Mr Alai said he believes in Kenyans expressing themselves and calling public officials for their actions or inactions.

The tweets had claimed that the hospitals are a hub for human organ trafficking and smuggling and also managed by criminals as well as exploiting patients by detaining security documents such as title deeds