The court has dismissed a defamation suit by Francis Atwoli against suspended Labour Cabinet Secretary Kazungu Kambi for lack of sufficient evidence.

The Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) Secretary General had accused Kambi of defaming him by linking him to the murder of former Kabete MP George Muchai and was seeking to have the court award him Sh 500 million in damages.

Justice Alfred Mabea however dismissed the case on grounds that there was no sufficient evidence to prove the defamation claim. He maintained that for one to be granted damages in a defamation case according to law, he or she must prove that the exact words complained of must exist in a publication, adding that the orders sought by Atwoli were too general and ambiguous to grant.

In February this year, following the murder of George Muchai, Six top Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) officials moved to court to sue Kambi and three MPs (Moses Kuria, Francis Waititu and Alice Ng’ang’a) over remarks linking them to the murder of the MP.

The Kabete MP was shot dead on February 8, on the Kenyatta Avenue-Uhuru Highway roundabout alongside his driver and two bodyguards.

On 16 february, Justice Alfred Mbeya restrained the four from uttering any defamatory words linking Atwoli to the killing of Muchai and his aides pending the determination of the suit.