Former first lady Thandiwe Banda has filed a law suit in the high court claiming damages against the Times of Zambia and its editor-in-chief.
In her statement of claim filed in the Lusaka High Court, Mrs. Banda states that the paper has refused to apologise over a story headline “State Seizes Thandiwe properties”.
She containds that the story was published on December 20th, 2011, and that it stated that the state seized properties worth billions of kwacha including a hotel in Malawi, belonging to her.
Mrs. Banda claims in their natural meaning, the said words meant the properties were acquired improperly and unlawfully hence the seizure.
She has accused the state owned newspaper of refusing to apologize and retract saying they did not get a verification from her before publishing.
Mrs. Banda has since asked the court to grant her an injunction,restraing the paper from publishing similar words defamatory of her and that she be awarded compensatory damages for libel.
She is also asking the court that all legal costs arising from the court action be borne by Times of Zambia.
MUVITV
All Zambians never forfeit your human rights. Instead evoke your full constitutional rights and legal avenues as exists in the Constitution of Zambia. Never never forfeit them to the whim of any preposterous culture of malice, intent and vacous intimidation rearing itself for a imaginary society of the fearful.
DELETED POSTER RISK BEING BANNED
Never allow preposterous characters to hijack the 4th estate of our nascent democracy only to be turned into a frontier of accusation, mentioning, trial or prosecutions and conviction of citizens without the due process of the law which should try all of you in the constitutional courts of justice.
The new crop of Editors is worrying.I used to respect Anthony Mukwita when he used to feature on Kwacha Goodmorning with then Post Columnist Edem Djokotoe on Front Pages but after assuming his role at Daily Mail,I am indeed perplexed.
All rational and patriotic Zambians except job seeking cadres should challenge the poorly orchestrated scheme of using the state-run media to demonize dissenting free minds as emerging in our country. Just last month we heard public by decree that in Zambia the democratic call of the Western people for devolution is an act of subversion and treason deserving mobilization of the national army LoL!
ITS A GIMMICK TO SCARE THE MEDIA FROM FURTHER EXPOSING THE CORRUPTION THAT WENT ON IN THE FORMER REGIME. THE MEDIA AND SECURITY WINGS SHOULD NOT RELENT TO EXPOSE AND PERSUE ANY SUSPECTED PLUNDER CASES. MUTEMBO AND HIS TEAM PLEASE WE LOOKING TO YOU. TWALICHULA, SOME PEOPLE BECAME RICH IN RECORD TIME. GOD BLESS ZAMBIA
Iam not a lawyer but from working at the courts for a long time as a reporter I will say Mrs Banda has no chance of winning such a vague defamation case.
@ SENIOR CITIZEN MULEUMFWAKO NE NSONI CAN YOU EVEN COMPARE THE STATE OF MEDIA UNDER PF TO THE WAY IT WAS IN THE PAST REGIMES ESPECIALLY ALABS, SO FAR WE ARE VERY HAPPY WITH THE PF VIS-A-VIS THE MEDIA, OUR MEMORIES ARE NOT THAT SHORT SIR! THATS WHY THE PEOPLE OF ZAMBIA OVERWHELMLY REJECTED PAST REGIME BECAUSE OF THEIR EXCESSES WHICH EVEN CHILDREN SAW; unexplained source wealth, abuse of the media, detoriarating conditions in the civil service, increased sub. allowance for foreign trips while local one remained same, unpaid allowances for civil srvise, pathetic conditions in prisons/ hospitals, list is endless.
Thandi – concentrate on shagg**ng RB – he needs to release his stress in these trying times otherwise we may lose him to BP before he answers all charges of corruption.
If I were Thandi, I would start looking for my next presidential husband – ummm, the President of Botswana would be a good, young catch for you Thandi – you are still young and could end up very happily married to a young man who still functions in bed. Hmm – you must be clever and learn from Grace Machel – she moved on to the next presido.
The president of America earns USD 400,000 per year…America one of the richest economies in the world. RB buys an estate in 3 months after becoming president of Zambia, one of the poorest economies in the world for USD 700,000. Thandiwe, a teacher earning some money as the presidents wife can not be rich overnite…please if Senior Citizen is stupid, not all Zambians are…Jail these unrepentant thieves.
It is a mad government. How such people ended up in government, I clearly don’t get it, because there’s nothing new about Sata.
Jail them dem thieves!
Ke ke ke ke ke ke ke ke! It used to be Sata taking these mugs to court. Now tables have turned. Over to you Mutembo. Primary school teacher to win a case? Nah!
Yes Obama’s Annual Salary is $400,000 USD. The 44th president of the United States is the most popular person in the world and yet RB managed to beat this record in just less than 12 months of being president of one of the poorest countries in the world. Kaya. I end here!
# 8 what is Obama worth? Not everyone has a salary as the only source of income. RB’s $700k might be quite high but once he became president his credit worthiness went up as well meaning a lot more people were willing to lend him money. So lets wait for the investigative wings to finish their job then we can condemn. Credit worthiness is the reason you have seen even the new PF ministers looking polished and wearing nice suits after getting into government.
Facts not fiction bwana
jail them please
Poor lozis, all they talk about is the ‘Barotseland’ liberation, but when you ask them about the boundaries of the Barotseland, they are all as blank as a white sheet of rotatrium paper!
Ask them about how possible it was to restore the BA64 without ‘creating a state within a state’, they straight away resort serious insults!
Console them, they happily ask you you to join the struggle, afterall the boundaries of the barotseland is so large that it ‘includes even parts of foreign countries’!
Thats why i have stopped commenting on their issue
Miles I am in stitches.Have a pleasant night:)
Why cant you stik to the topic?nownder people insult you because you are provocative chikala.
yaba..everyone now will sue govt..we need more money in our pockets..hahaha
Everyone is suing the state owned papers. Hope they are innocent. However, this is a lesson for the press. What next? Yes.
Go on THANDIWE you are just an inocent and humble lady,why should they falsely accuse you.By the way was RB so poor that he can fail to build a house?
Mr Sata won cases such as these in his days of opposition in the nation. Its Zambian Judicial system on trial here. Lets wait and see other legal pursuits will follow. Zambians have a variety of constitutional rights which Mr Sata was at liberty to exploit at one time. Its not the liagal system on trial, its Zambian democracy on trial. Lets wait and see as things unfold.
ok then let her explain, as a teacher, where she got all that property and why she couldnt aquire it all before she went to state house. Thandiwe, do you really want to do this? Has Sikota wina put you up to this, do you realise that this guy is just making money out of all you guys?
#20 Do you know the names of the hotels in question in Tz and Malawi? Do you know how many of them they are and how many rooms each hotel has? Have you seen any photographs of the hotels and can you tell me where they are located in Tz and Malawi? Without all this information at hand dont you think it is rather premature to throw away the presumed innocence of Mrs Banda before she is found guilty by an independent court of law? Thandiwe has asked deadnbc to show footage of the hotels in question but up to now we have not seen any images. If you go on the news pages on the internet for Malawi and Tz none of them have published any story relating to the alleged seizure of Mrs Banda’s properties – very strange dont you think?
@ Special Agent Dr M
I do not think this is about who abuses the state media more than the other. Two wrongs wont make a right. It is about good practice and objective and sound reporting. The PF Government has an opportunity to clean up this evil but they seem to be following suit. The fact that this wealth perceived or actual is unexplained to you or the media does not necessary mean it was corruptly obtained. It is the remit of the investigative wings to investigate and prepare credible cases for prosecution before the courts and not for the media to propel innuendo that such wealth was acquired dubiously and condemning such people through the media. Unless of course they have credible evidence that they can present to the investigative wings.
NO 15 THANDIWES CASE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH BAROSTELAND.WHY ARE LOZIS GIVING YOU SLEEPLESS NIGHTS THAT YOU HAVE TO COMMENT ON THEM EVEN ON ISSUES WHICH DO NOT CONCERN THEM .YOU ARE REALLY CHEAP.
Thandiwe does not appear to contest the fact that properties believed to belong to her were seized, but seems to challenge an implication by the paper that the said properties, invariably linked to her, were ill-gotten. If the paper merely reported that properties believed to belong to her were confisticated, without implying that she acquired them iligitmately, then she has no case. Her statement seems to be concerned with the existence of an assumption that Thandiwe has property, but it was not acquired in the ‘normal’ course of dealings.
THE FORMER FIRST LADY IS BEING SOMETHING I CAN NOT EXPLAIN! SHE DOES NOT DENY AQUARING THE ASSETS BUT SUING THE EDITOR FOR NOT APOLOGISING FOR PUBLISHING AN THE INFORMATION WITHOUT HER PERMISSION. AND WHY STOP THE MEDIA FROM DEFAMING YOUR CHARACTER? AS LONG AS YOU ONCE WERE A PUBLIC FIGURE, ALL NOSES WILL BE ON YOU. THESE ARE THE REPERCUSSIONS OF BEING A PUBLIC FIGURE, JUST PRAY THAT THE ASSETS YOU OWN WEREN’T OBTAINED IMPROPERLY. OTHERWISE, YOU ARE JUST SCARED OF THE TRUTH YET TO BE REVEALED.
Ba Senior Citizen, are you really serious about your comments? Are you running on 286 megabytes of memory or less? Have you in this very few months forgotten how you vilified HE MCS for taking these same papers to court? What a shocker?
About this Chimbokaila headed so called former first woman, lady? I doubt that! Does she even know that there’s cross examination in courts? Does she know how much will surface during cross examination? I think the investigating teams should now even stop investigating. They have been given the cases on their laps by this ignorant village teacher. I pray for Mutembo Nchito to ask for Death Sentences like they have done in Mubarak cases. That will stop all the corruption nonsense that Banda and Kunda brought to Zambia.
@#15 Miles…Get a life. U are becoming a nuisense just like a mosquito.
Whats the madness with this fool called Miles, or maybe its kilometre. Like it o not fool BA64 is real.
Arrest these criminals from MMD. Thandiwe you are a a criminal minde lady. Grow up and face the law.
I recall thy old story in post that thandiwe still got a salary just after) went in office y didn’t she sue post 4publishing that. Mwata ss
Yes senior citizen is stupid.
Lawyers please help some of us understand Mrs Banda’s bone of contention. The question is: Is it imerative that if the state confiscates property that is improperly acquired the media houses should seek the permission of the owner before publishing the story?
Lusaka Times, it’s contends and not containds. Know that there a lot of English learners who access this site, and take whatever they read from your stories as being grammatically correct, and well spelled. Therefore, set a good precedence for our English learners by ensuring that stories that you publish are free of grammatical errors, and misspellings.
Thandiwe was very clear in another newspaper where she was quoted as saying that she does not own property outside Zambia,She further stated that had the paper taken the trouble to investigate the matter and approached her,she would have given them the required information.
#32 Sage thanks for that. Thandiwe would have sued if she knew she had no case. These Vuvuzela papers will lose a lot of money in compesation. Unfortunately, we the tax payers will pay for it indirectly as GRZ recapitalizes these papers.
Correction. Thandiwe would not have sued if she knew she had no case.
hahaha…..madam just go and esculpate thy self in court. Which permission should the media get from you ?
Ya ya ya ya we have ears at our disposal but the investigating wings have the loose noses to smell an the eyes to see.
@25 Harold. Start from the begining and then comment. Thandiwe has already stated that she does not own any property outside the country. Nothing was siezed from her hence. It is just the excitement of these poorly trained journalist who are trying to imitate the Post’s approached and are getting burnt.
Uluse to this young lady tandiwe,she tested state house which she never expected to,To day if we ask her how much she is worth bonse abalesabaila will be sprised that she is worth K8 billion when she was on a poor teacher and RB a farmer.Am happy she has gone to the court so that by the time RB’s immunity will be removed she will be caught in the web,Dont forget chiluba’s case.
She asked the media to show the property when the story came out. All that Sata needs to do is to show the nation what property was consficated. Its a lie, PF have nnothing on her. if they had, Thandiwe coud have been exposed by this time. PF has been caught with pants down.
Times and the Daily mail are excited for nothing. They want to show that they are pro PF, in the process they will continue to trample on individual’s rights. just like before. This deasease is pandemic, and if Sata does not stop it, this culture will continue. If they existed in a civilised country, they would have closed shop through bankrapcy because of too many litigation issues.
@37 objective – I was commenting on her statement of claim in court. I don’t know what she said earlier. Has she denied ownership in her defamation suit? The court can only work on what is before it.
@37 objective – I was commenting on her statement of claim in court. I don’t know what she said earlier. Has she denied ownership in her defamation suit?
I sense the headlines are haunting Mrs Banda as the spotlight that once shone at her glamorous
lifestyles is fading away.
Depending on what side of the story one takes- still rises eye-brows in regards to how she amassed the alleged properties worth billlions (ZK),the kind of investments she does to pay
her off so well,how long it took to materialize and bearing in mind she just graduated.
And Thandiwe’s aggression is the paper’s revelation of the seizure of the assets without her
consent; she’s not denying owing the assets in question.
If Mrs Banda is having seminars themed -The Graduate,Make It Big In 3 years and Invest In
Foreign countries; I’m signing up!!!
By virtue of your husband being a president – that subjects you and your family to public scrutiny
of your daily aspects of your life.Don’t bemoan foul what media covers. Time will vindicate you!
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