CHIVI South legislator Killer Zivhu (Zanu PF) has filed for
rescision of default judgment by High Court Justice Tawanda Chitapi, which
dismissed his $1 million defamation claim against Norton MP, Temba Mliswa
(Independent).
In his application, Zivhu submitted that the default
judgment was erroneously granted against him.
“The respondent (Mliswa) contravened the rules of the court
by causing the setting down of the special plea for hearing before the trial
date. (It) constituted a procedural error and that the subsequent granting of
the default judgment by this honourable court was made in error,” Zivhu
submitted.
He said he was, therefore, seeking an order rescinding the
default judgment obtained by Mliswa.
Zivhu, who is also the president of the Cross Border
Traders Association (CBTA) and the chairman of the Zimbabwe Amalgamated Housing
Association (ZAHA), last year filed the lawsuit after Mliswa allegedly tweeted
on his personal microblogging Twitter account, labelling Zivhu “a thief and a
corrupt individual”.
According to Zivhu, Mliswa, who operates a Twitter account
under the name “Hon Temba P Mliswa @TembaMliswa”, had since April 25, 2017 to
October last year when summons were issued, been using the social media
platform to tweet defamatory statements against him.
Zivhu further said he, together with his organisation,
ZAHA, were reported to various police stations, Criminal Investigation
Department (CID) Frauds, the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc), former
President Robert Mugabe, army and various government departments by Mliswa, for
his arrest, but no action has been taken against him.
However, after receiving the summons, Mliswa filed an
appearance to defend and later a special plea in support of his defence, in
which he said: “The summons is materially defective in that the plaintiff
(Zivhu) pleads and attaches evidence to the summons in contravention of Order
15 Rule 99 (c) of the High Court of Zimbabwe”.
On May 21, 2019, the matter was then heard by Justice
Chitapi in Zivhu’s absence after he failed to attend court to substantiate his
claim.
“Whereupon after reading documents filed of record and
hearing counsel, it is ordered that; defendant’s (Mliswa) special plea is
upheld and plaintiff’s (Zivhu) claim be and is hereby dismissed with costs on
the attorney and client scale,” Justice Chitapi ruled at the time. Newsday
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