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Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has released his HIV results in a defamation suit filed against Radio Africa Group – the publishers of the Star newspaper.
Sonko moved to court after giving the Star a seven-day ultimatum to withdraw and apologise over an article claiming that the Nairobi Governor was released from prison on account of his HIV status.
The Star newspaper stood by its decision to publish the story – saying it merely reported a court document.
In his case against the Star, Sonko attached two results from the Nairobi Hospital and the Nairobi Women’s Hospital which showed he was HIV negative.
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He added that at no time in his life had he contracted the disease.
Sonko said the Star’s report defamed him by suggesting he was a man of questionable morality who was infected with AIDS and a criminal was had escaped from prison.
The city boss said the publication failed to contact him to verify the information they reported.
Radio Africa Group was in 2012 fined Sh800,000 for disclosing the HIV status of a man who was subject to a radio show, Busted, published by Classic 105.
The Media Council of Kenya, through its complaints commission, ruled that the Busted programme had stigmatized and breached the privacy of the persons recorded in the phone conversation.