THE Solicitor General has threatened to take legal action against the Daily Nation Newspaper for a defamatory article in which he is inaccurately and maliciously accused of rendering his opinion to the Acting Chief Justice in a contempt matter which involved MMD leader Nevers Mumba.
Musa Mwenye said the article in yesterday’s publication under the headline ‘Arrest Kabimba, Mwenye’ did not reflect the correct position of what transpired.
He said through his lawyer Eddie Mwitwa from his law firm that the article in question was inaccurate and malicious as he was never given chance to inquire and clarify who he gave his opinion.
“Had the paper inquired, it would have been realised that I rendered my opinion to Justice Minister Wynter Kabimba and not the Acting Chief Justice Lombe Chibesakunda as claimed by the Daily Nation,” he said.
In his demand letter to the Newspaper, the Solicitor General is now demanding for a public apology and a retraction on the first page the News paper in a text acceptable to him and that a proposal be sent to his office how they intend to ameliorate his position in view of the said defamatory article.
He said the opinion rendered to Mr Kabimba was professional and not different from other opinions as he was constitutionally obliged to render to the government and other public officials.
“This is therefore to demand that you render a public apology and retraction, should we not hear from your office within three days we shall be constrained to issue court process immediately without further recourse to you,” he said.
In the article, United Party for National Development (UPND) political advisor to the party President, Douglas Siakalima said “What Kabimba and Mwenye did is contemptuous and abuse of office and authority. They must be arrested and jailed for conniving to undermine and interfere with the independence of the judiciary. The matter on which the two rendered their legal opinion to Acting Chief Justice was an ongoing court process.”
That the article further stated that “ Siakalima who is former Siavonga Member of Parliament (MP) said the Supreme Court ruling on contempt charges against Dr Mumba has exposed Mwenye as a PF cadre who was using public resources to conduct political activities for the ruling party.”
Mr Mwenye said had the Newspaper cared to find out the facts concerning the opinion rendered in its contents, it would become apparent that it was done on professional grounds and in view of the interpretation of Section 22 of the Electoral Act number 12 of 2006.
you connived with kabimba to offer a legal opinion to a judge who was about rule on case that was before her court. musa mwenye is a fool. just sue if you want so that more details are released
Mr. Mwenye,
Are you taking such action as a private citizen or as Solicitor General?
Think twice and do some research of legal precedents which go back to 1800’s. You might find that you will need first to resign in order to pursue litigation for libel.
On the other hand, I am sure that you can always expect sympathetic hearing from a Bench whose integrity has been already compromised.
This man is a fluke
Musa Mwenye is a let down. He had started well with Mwanawasa but down the lane succumbed to money and position and sold out first to Mahtani for protecting him from money laundering cases and then joined hands with Sata to persecute innocent opposition leaders and perceived opponents of the regime. A typical useful *****.
@Fighter for the truth
Let’s keep clear minds and use our brains when contributing to discussions. A Lawyers job is to defend the interests of his clients. Even murderers are entitled to have “their interests protected”….including a good fight to have them discharged of all allegation. Therefore, if Mwenye was defending Mahtani as a lawyer then he was doing his job and not being “a sell out”…..but it is another thing accepting a job offer from the PF lead Govt and in that case, you can rightly lebel him a sell out to the Zambian people
Is he to sue on his capacity of as a Mr. Musa Mwenye or as THE Solicitor General? This is interesting. I want to follow this to the end.
interesting indeed. how some people useful *****s is mind boggling!
This Mwenye is very dull. The Daily nation was just reporting what somebody had said. If you have got guts sue the person who uttered those words, not the news paper
Ba Urine, professional journalism requires that a newspaper verifies its stories before publishing them. So if the Nation Newspaper neglected to verify their story, they are just as guilty as their source of the story.
He offered legal opinion on a matter that concerned PF, not government. Since when was he paid to be a solicitor general for PF? He can try and hide behind semantics and legal jargon. The truth is Kabimba wanted to know where PF stood vis-a-vis the on-going cases in which PF were the plaintiff. He is entitled to sue the newspaper in his personal capacity, but he must first resign from his government position.
SG you are opening fronts which will shock you in the final analysis. Why did summer not go to his lawyers for that legal opinion since this matter concerned Power Failure (PF).
There are times when it is more wise to remain silent than to be talkative.Musa Mwenye might find himself awakening a sleeping giant whom he cannot tame.If Musa goes ahead to sue the Daily Nation,a can of worms will be opened which might engulf a lot of people who might have themselves kept quiet.Be careful of what you wish for!!!!!!