NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 18 – The Milimani High Court has ordered the Capital Market Authority (CMA) and its current Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Wycliffe Shamiah, to pay Sh10.5 million to Cytonn Investments Management PLC over defamatory statements.
Cytonn, which filed the lawsuit in 2021, accused the two of making remarks during an interview aired on NTV’s YouTube channel and issuing a press statement that warned investors against investing in unregulated products offered by entities such as Cytonn.
The firm said that the remarks, which it claims suggested that it was unlawfully raising funds from the public without regulatory approval, had not only triggered confusion in the market but also dented its business reputation.
In their defence, CMA and Shamiah, who admitted to making the statements, maintained that they were factual and were aimed at raising awareness about the risks of investing in unregulated financial products.
The court observed that some of the statements made in the interview went beyond the legal framework and implied that Cytonn’s operations were criminal, despite the law recognizing certain private investment arrangements that may fall outside CMA regulation.
“The conclusion of the above is that the utterances by the 1st defendant on behalf of the second defendant amount to recklessness, are unwarranted and defamatory, and are bedecked with falsehood,” the ruling read.
The two will be required to pay Sh10 million for general damages and sh500,000 for aggravated damages as well as all the costs of the lawsuit.
