Chiefs sue Daily News for $10m
The National Council of Chiefs yesterday resolved to sue The Daily News for $10 million for publishing an article riddled with falsehoods that demeaned it by insinuating that chiefs were mercenaries bent on propping up Zanu-PF for financial gain in next year’s general elections. In the article that appeared on September 18, 2017, titled “Chiefs available to the highest bidder,”
The Daily News alleged that traditional leaders had made several demands such as off-road Ford Ranger vehicles, farms, increase in monthly allowances among other perks.
This, the article alleged, was in return for their support for Zanu-PF’s bid for re-election next year. The article went on to claim that traditional leaders had threatened to paralyse Zanu-PF campaigns if Treasury did not consent to their “inflationary” demands. In an interview soon after their caucus yesterday, Chiefs Council president Fortune Charumbira said they had since instructed their lawyers to institute legal action against the publication.
“The article carries falsehoods and is seriously defamatory to the revered royal institution. The article is malicious and deliberately intends to demean the institution of traditional leaders and the respect, dignity and integrity of Chiefs,” said Chief Charumbira. The Chiefs Council took issue with the publication for referring to chiefs as “Zanu-PF unofficial political commissars” which they said created an impression that chiefs were partisan and embedded in Zanu-PF.
He said as traditional leaders, they were guided by the Constitution which provided that they should be apolitical. Chief Charumbira said they had noted with “concern” that the privately owned newspaper quoted three traditional leaders whom they had not spoken to. “The paper falsely quotes Chiefs Charumbira, Nyamukoho (Mashonaland East) and Chisunga (Mashonaland Central province). The paper never spoke to me. I was out of the country in Netherlands and unreachable from September 12 to 19, 2017 yet the article was published on September 18, 2017,” said Chief Charumbira.
He said the article had the effect of undermining the Constitution in so far as the role of traditional leaders is concerned. “The article also undermines the Constitution of Zimbabwe Section (16) (3) which states, ‘The state and all institutions and agencies of government at every level must take measures to ensure due respect for the dignity of traditional institutions’,” he said. He said they would bring the suit in order to protect the integrity of their constituency. “The National Council of Chiefs and Provincial Assemblies of Chiefs are mandated by the Constitution of Zimbabwe under Section 286 (1) (b) to represent the views of traditional leaders and to maintain the integrity and status of traditional institutions,” he said.
BY Ziwanai Murwira
