How student activist Nelson Amenya floored tycoon Jayesh Saini in French court
Amenya submitted that a local court was better placed to hear the case, especially because he was undertaking a whistleblower role
Kenyan tycoon Jayesh Saini has suffered a major blow after the court in France dismissed a defamation suit filed against Paris-based Kenyan student Nelson Amenya, in which he sought to be paid Ksh8million (€60,000) as damages and legal fees.
Saini had claimed that Amenya, through a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), defamed him by linking him to contracts entered between the government and private entities during the transition from the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) to the Social Health Authority (SHA), which generated a lot of controversy after the system failed.
However, in his ruling Judge Francois Harry said that the posts were on matters that part of public debate and interest, particularly corruption and healthcare in Kenya and thus protected by European laws on freedom of speech.
He also ruled that the businessman, who owns Dinlas Pharma and Bliss Healthcare, did not adduce evidence of injury he and his companies had suffered in France for the court to have jurisdiction to determine the matter.
Amenya had submitted that the businessman had filed another case in a Nairobi court, where similar orders have not been issued.
He further argued that since the matters raised in the case emanated from Nairobi, a local court was better placed to adjudicate them, especially because he was undertaking a whistleblower role.
Saini has now been ordered to pay the activist, Ks 667,000 (€5,000) as legal costs of the suit.
Amenya is better known for blowing the whistle on the public private partnership deal between the government and India’s Adani Group for the lease of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) for 32 years.
According to Saini, Amenya’s posts accused them of seeking to divert public funds for the benefit of the president through contracts awarded to companies supposedly owned or managed offshore.
He also indicated that Amenya describes him as being “at the helm” of a government plot to privatise the health sector in Kenya through the creation of the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF).
A firm in which Adani is reported to own, Apeiro Limited, is one of the two partners of Safaricom in the rollout of Ksh104 billion Integrated Healthcare Information Technology System (IHTS).
The system is the anchor of the SHIF but has encountered challenges since last October leaving many patients helpless.
Saini filed the case in Paris, France in October last year seeking injunction orders to the removal of the defamatory materials published on Amenya’s X account (formerly Twitter) whose number of followers exceeds 100,000.
One of Amenya’s posts he claimed were meant to tarnish his name read: “Jayesh Saini and his father are the ones who brokered the deal between Adani and president William Ruto”.
His father Dr. Umesh Saini is the founder of Nairobi West Hospital.
Another post read: “Jayesh and his family (the wife who is a pharmacist) are protected by members of the presidential unit, personally recommended by the president.”
Another purported to indicate the “list of companies owned by Ruto through his proxy Jayesh Saini.”
In his application, Saini stated that, “Amenya is a Kenyan citizen residing in France engaged in a masters of Business Administration and very active on social media particularly Twitter and in Kenyan media, regularly and vehemently criticizing political regimes…he attacks politicians but also businessmen and mostly derives the information from local and international articles without any foundation or external source collaborating his statements which sometimes are very serious defamatory.”
He submitted that Amenya makes a sharp and explicit criticism of the current regime and seeks to involve various individuals including him, by claiming that the latter has close ties with the current regime, denouncing supposed corruption links with President Ruto.
He asserted that the jurisdiction of the French judge to rule in his favour based on Articles 4 of Regulation (EU) No. 1215/2012 concerning judicial jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement of judgements in civil and commercial matters.
However, Saini’s pleas were turned down by the court.
In his ruling, the judge stated that “the plea of lack of territorial jurisdiction, I reject the injunction requests and the subsequent requests and I condemn Jayesh Saini to pay 5000 euros (Ksh667,000) under article 700 of the Civil Procedure Code.”
