Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. Comedienne Felistas Murata, widely known as Mai TT, is facing a US$100,000 defamation lawsuit filed by Shingai Ziwange-Jere.
Shingai, who is married to Murehwa West legislator and CAPS United Football Club president Farai Jere, alleges that Mai TT defamed her through a post on her official Facebook page, Mai T’s Diaries.
In the post, Mai TT allegedly accused Shingai of issuing death threats and manipulating Zimbabwe’s judicial system for personal gain.
Through her lawyers, Rubaya and Chatambudza Legal Practitioners, Shingai has demanded a full, unconditional, and unreserved retraction of the defamatory statement, associated images, and any related insinuations.
She also seeks an expression of regret—all to be done within 12 hours of Mai TT receiving the letter of demand, which was served on her Friday evening. The letter reads:
There was no iota of truth whatsoever in the statements you made, which were obviously intended to solely sully and tarnish our client’s reputation and esteem.
Our client believes that your statements were motivated not only by malice but also by a desire for followers, clout, views, and likes. This deeply concerns and agonises our client.
It is as clear as day that your allegations were fabricated and were carved out of fanciful imagination. They resemble a script from a fictional neo-noir African movie.
In keeping with your ill meaning intentions, harm visited our client. At your instance, as evinced by innumerable comments to your posts, your followers had a field day of our client, as they hauled all manner of insults and obscenities at her as if she was subhuman or some second-class citizen.
The overall tenor of your ill-founded social media rants is that you are sadfishing and using our client to fight a proxy war with your erstwhile enemies and our client will not take this lying low.
The lawyers argued that Mai TT’s statements were defamatory and would be understood by any reasonable reader, follower, or Facebook user to convey one or more of the following meanings:
That Ziwange-Jere acts with impunity in that she is a maliciously dangerous person who malevolently hires criminals to commit assault and torture ordinary citizens and non-entities like Murata,
That Ziwange Jere is a criminal ‘queenpin’ conducting criminal activities of conducting unlawful surveillance on Murata’s property without her consent and/or permission and is consistently threatening her with death and harm.
That Ziwange-Jere is a person who manipulates the justice system in Zimbabwe which has led to Murata losing a case against another socialite Patricia Jack whom she allegedly caused her arrest for alleged uploading your daughter’s nude pictures yet Ziwange-Jere has no connection whatsoever to justice system in Zimbabwe and has no capacity whatsoever to influence any out comes regards cases in Zimbabwe.
The lawyers stated that their client maintains strong national and international business ties and partnerships, and that Mai TT’s widely circulated accusations have demeaned her status and severely damaged her most valuable asset — her reputation. Reads the letter:
Put differently, the publication of the statements you made about our client are malicious, harmful and injurious and they remain in the public domain through pictorial evidence of the same, despite your belated attempt to delete some of the posts and comments from your social media handles.
The digital footprint you left continues to affect our client.
That she has no connection whatsoever to anyone whom you allege tortured you or any person who was allegedly conducting surveillance.
Instead of doing self-introspection as to what is really the cause for the authorities to be interested in you, you have gone on a frolic of your own and irresponsibly alleged that our client is behind the supposed misfortunes you claim to have experienced.
Our client’s reputation has been severely damaged and unjustifiably so because contrary to the defamatory statement she is a professional businesswoman who is not involved in any criminal activities.
Consequently, our client advises us that she is now on the verge of losing many lucrative contracts as the published statement and pictures have cast her in a very bad light and she has the real risk of incurring quantifiable financial losses.
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