Dr Nevers Sekwila Mumba writes….
Yesterday, our lawyers delivered the letter of demand to Mr Chris Zumani Zimba.
Our goal is to remain consistent with our vision to clean Zambian politics. We believe that we must hold all political players accountable for their words and actions, especially againts others.
8th May, 2024
Mr Chris Zumani Zimba
LUSAKA.
Dear Sir,
DEMAND FOR RETRACTION AND APOLOGY FOR DEFAMATIVE STATEMENTS CAUSED TO BE PUBLISHED – YOURSELF AND DR. NEVERS SEKWILA MUMBA
Reference is made to the above captioned matter and we have been retained by Dr. Nevers Sekwila Mumba (hereinafter “our client”). Kindly therefore note our interest.
We have been instructed by our client, that on 4th May, 2024, you were quoted in the Mast Newspaper edition/publication No. 4533-SM 393 as having made the following statement as against our client thus:
“MMD President Nevers Mumba is a ‘poisonous political snake’ that will also bite and dump President Hakainde Hichilema that day he loses power”
“If Anderson Mazoka was to speak today, he would say ‘Mumba is a man of gold who betrayed and dumped them in 2003”
Further we are advised that you authored and caused to be widely circulated on social media, an article titled- “12 most poisonous snakes that will bite & dump HH in 2026 after his shameful defeat – part two” in which you made the following unfounded allegations against our client thus:
“This Mumba is ungrateful. Mumba is shameful and Mumba is disgraceful, poisonous for polities because he is a deadly traitor. Why should Lungu be alone today when this Mumba was around him during his days at State House? As usual, he is only vomiting fire on Lungu today for the sake of eating cake with HH.”
We are furthermore informed by our client that on or about the 6th day of May, 2024, you made malicious statements against our client during a live address carried out on our client’s official Facebook page addressing your statements that were published on 4th May, 2024 in the Mast Newspaper.
Suffice to state that your statements, aforementioned, are malicious, demeaning of our clients character and deliberately calculated to cause our client harm by placing him in public odium, without due care from yourself as to the veracity/truthfulness of said statements. Your aim has been to cause as much damage to our client’s character as possible without regard to the effect this will have on our client who is a senior statesman and former Vice President of the Republic of Zambia. In any event, the remarks and/or statements made by yourself were intended to form a negative and undesirable opinion about our client to the general public and as such the said statements have caused a grave negative impact on our client’s reputation.
In the aforesaid statements, you uttered various allegations and innuendos concerning our client which are wholly false, deceptive and lack any basis whatsoever. The said remarks and/or statements made and published against our client amount to character assassination, gross and blatant misrepresentation of facts and are a deliberate mischaracterization of our client’s character with clear malicious intent to harm him both locally and internationally as he is a well-known public and political figure.
In light of the foregoing, our firm instructions are to demand from you as we now do, to publicly retract the malicious statements made by yourself against our client and tender an apology to our client in a wide circulating newspaper on the front page in like manner to the headlines which you utilised to malign our client’s reputation.
In addition, our client instructs that you tender an apology to our client on the remarks and/or statement wherein you alleged that he lived a “fat and luxury lifestyle” during President Lungu’s tenure and personally benefited financially from the former head of state.
If we do not receive confirmation of your agreeing to retract or of your having published a retraction of your defamatory statements against our client in newsprint and on social media, within seven (07) days from the date hereof, in any event on or before the close of business on Wednesday 15th May, 2024, we shall without further correspondence, proceed to issue Originating process in the High Court of Judicature for Zambia and sue for damages for defamation of our client’s character including punitive and/or exemplary damages for malicious intent, injunctive relief and our legal costs herein.
We shall be requesting the Court to award punitive and/or exemplary damages in excess of K20, 000,000.00 (Twenty Million Kwacha) on account of the deliberate, malicious and calculated nature of your defamatory statements, all made in the pursuit of gaining political mileage and of course on account of your lack of regard for the effects of your actions on our client.
Kindly acknowledge receipt by signing and returning a copy for our records.
Yours faithfully,
Messrs J&M Advocates
cc: Client