Buyanga claims $10m from ex-girlfriend’s mother for defamation

By The NewsDay | Jul. 26, 2019 | 2 Min read

SOUTH AFRICA-BASED Zimbabwean businessman, Frank Buyanga Sadiqi, has taken his ex-girlfriend, Chantelle Muteswa’s mother, Judith Muteswa, to the High Court claiming $10 million after accusing the latter of making a false report to the police and in the process defaming him.

BY CHARLES LAITON

In his claim, Buyanga said on or about April 23, 2019, Muteswa, without locus standing, wrongfully laid a criminal complaint against him for contempt of court on the grounds that he had defied a court order, when the court order in question, in fact, gave him the right of access to his minor child.

“According to a Memorandum of Understanding between plaintiff (Buyanga) and his former girlfriend Chantelle Muteswa, plaintiff would return the minor child into her custody after the child’s visitation to the plaintiff,” he said.

“Defendant (Judith) made a false report to the police when she knew or ought to have known that plaintiff had not defied any court order and that, in fact, it was defendant’s daughter Chantelle Muteswa, whose whereabouts were unknown and plaintiff could not leave his minor child in defendant’s custody.”

The businessman further said the mentioned criminal report was subsequently reported in various media publications and read by members of the general public as well as the local and international business community.

“The defendant deliberately and maliciously filed a false report to the police having been fully aware that the plaintiff was compliant with the court order. As a result of the malicious prosecution and subsequent defamatory publication, the plaintiff’s standing and reputation in society has been diminished and soiled locally, regionally and internationally all resultant from the defendant’s wrongful actions,” Buyanga said.

“The newspapers which reported the allegations have wide readership and also have online editions. The articles, therefore, had and still have an international audience. The damage to the plaintiff is, therefore, a continuing one,” he said adding: “Plaintiff has thus far been damaged in his reputation and has suffered damages in the amount of Z$10 000 000.”