A RETIRED army major, Sydney Mangwende, has taken Zimbabwe Newspapers (Zimpapers) to the High Court seeking damages totalling $100 000 following the publication of “a letter to the editor” in The Sunday Mail which claimed he was a murderer.
BY CHARLES LAITON
Mangwende claims the publication of the letter, titled Police, army, please act, on October 4 this year, in which he was alleged to have killed a person in broad daylight, had damaged his reputation in society and, as such, he was entitled to be compensated by Zimpapers.
In the said article, Mangwende said he was alleged to have been wearing full military regalia and unleashing terror on people residing in Gomba village in Murehwa and its environs.
“The plaintiff is Sydney Mangwende, a retired Army Major of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces . . . the defendant is the owner and publisher of The Sunday Mail newspaper,” read part of the declaration which is part of the summons dated November 13, 2015 filed under case number HC10987/15.
“On October 4, 2015, a letter to the editor, titled Police, army, please act, was published in The Sunday Mail newspaper. Annexed hereto as ‘A’, is a copy of the letter.”
The retired army major added: “The said letter to the editor stated that the plaintiff (Mangwende) had been wearing full military regalia and unleashing terror on the villagers and that he had killed someone in broad daylight. Furthermore, the letter alleges that the police and army had failed to take action against the plaintiff.”
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According to Mangwende, the said words, in the context of the article, were “wrongful and defamatory” of him in that they were “intended and were understood” by the readers of the newspapers “to mean he abused his former military position and masqueraded as an army officer to cause fear among villagers and also to perpetrate acts of violence to which police and the army could do nothing as he is above the law”.
“As a result of the defamation, plaintiff has been damaged in his reputation and has suffered damages in the amount of $100 000.”
The matter is pending at the High Court and Zimpapers has since entered an appearance to defend notice.
