According to Nyali MP Mohamed Ali, the Kenyatta family still exploits Kenyan farmers financially through Brookside Dairy.
Ali has requested that the court dismiss a petition Brookside had filed against him.
The legislator claimed via attorney Adrian Kamotho that “an illegal act” cannot result in action because Brookside continues to financially oppress Kenyan farmers.
He claimed that the Brookside petition contains significant errors and that his recent comments about the company did not violate any rights, either constitutional or human.
The Legislator was quoted saying “Uhuru comes here, he buys milk for Sh20, goes and boils it, and then sells it back to the milk suppliers for Sh120,” Ali said at a public rally in Nyeri town on March 3.
Brookside filed the case in the Milimani law courts as a result of this statement.
Brookside claimed in court documents that Ali’s “hostile statement” meant that they exploited the dairy farmers who sold and supplied milk to them as raw material for their business.
“The statement also meant that we treated the said farmers or suppliers unfairly and that we sold processed milk products that were not processed or manufactured to required health or safety standards and were of substandard quality,” the company explained.
It went on to say that Ali advocated public hatred against them and that his statements violated Brookside’s constitutional right to a good reputation, which is guaranteed by articles 33, 20 and 27 of the constitution.
Brookside asked the court to prevent Ali from inciting public hatred against them in the future.
They also requested an injunction to prevent Ali from inciting the public to cause economic or commercial harm to them and their businesses.
Ali claimed that the court’s authority was improperly invoked because Brookside is a corporate entity.
“The Bill of Rights’ rights and fundamental freedoms belong to individuals and cannot be granted to a limited liability company,” Ali said.
Brookside, according to the Nyali MP, is using the case for collateral purposes, specifically to unlawfully gag him
“The petition is ineffective.
Court lacks jurisdiction and it should be dismissed,” he said.
According to court documents, the company’s shareholders include both domestic and international investors.
Further, Ali claims that 40% of the parent company’s stock is owned by foreign investors with several Kenyatta family members being among the regional shareholders.
