LOCAL Government minister Saviour Kasukuwere has again dragged his fellow Zanu PF party mate, Mashonaland Central Provincial Affairs minister Martin Dinha, to court, claiming $500 000 as defamation damages after the latter allegedly insinuated he (Kasukuwere) harboured intentions to topple President Robert Mugabe from power.
BY CHARLES LAITON
In the summons filed on May 9 this year at the High Court by Kasukuwere, who is also Zanu PF political commissar, the minister accused Dinha of having caused the publication of a defamatory article in The Sunday Mail entitled “The Tyson-Malema unholy alliance”.
Kasukuwere said the article quoted Dinha stating that he (Kasukuwere) was “working with Julius Malema because they both share the ambition to take over power from Presidents Robert Mugabe and Jacob Zuma respectively”.
Kasukuwere further said in the same article, Dinha is also quoted as having said: “They both (Kasukuwere and Malema) see themselves as young leaders who share the same ambition. The allegations are that they are working together and they share strategies. I know for certain that his younger brother . . . travels to South Africa frequently as he is the point person for the interactions with Malema because of his links there.
“Kasukuwere and Malema see themselves in the same light. They want to run with the idea that the youth are the leaders of tomorrow and tomorrow is today. This is the problem that I have with Cde Kasukuwere because he wants to take over the country now.”
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In his declaration, Kasukuwere said the alleged utterances in the context of the article, were “untrue, wrongful and defamatory” in that they were intended and were understood by the readers of the The Sunday Mail to mean he was “dishonest, violent, power-hungry, pretentious, divisive and unworthy of leadership”.
Kasukuwere also said Dinha’s alleged words were further understood to mean that he (Kasukuwere) was “a criminal with intentions of toppling the constitutionally-elected President of the Republic of Zimbabwe and removing him as the leader of the ruling party Zanu PF”.
“By reason of the aforesaid article, plaintiff (Kasukuwere) has suffered damage in his fair name, reputation and position as a government minister as well as in his career as a politician. As a result of the defamation, plaintiff has been damaged in his reputation and has suffered damages in the amount of $500 000,” he claimed.
In the lawsuit, Kasukuwere also cited publishers of The Sunday Mail, Zimbabwe Newspapers, and the paper’s editor Mabasa Sasa as respondents and all the respondents are yet to file a response.