 By Songa wa Songa
The Citizen Correspondent
Dar es Salaam.
Firebrand Kigoma North legislator Zitto Kabwe could be sued for libel by a South African oil magnate with investments in Tanzania if he does not retract “defamatory” remarks he supposedly made in Parliament last year.
Johannesburg-based Lawley Shein Attorneys have put Mr Kabwe on notice, demanding that he withdraws comments he made on November 8, 2012 in the House over the allocation of oil blocks in Tanzania between 2004 and 2005.
The firm claims Mr Kabwe’s presentation tarnished the image of their client, South African oil millionaire Moto Mabanga, whom the Kigoma North MP allegedly described as a “corrupt Congolese national.”
“Our client is South African [but] you chose to depict him as Congolese without checking the facts,” reads the Lawley Shein notice.
It goes on: “You then described our client’s actions in Tanzania in the following bald and unsubstantiated terms: ‘A number of government officials and corrupt politicians were heavily bribed by Moto Mabanga to strike a deal that saw Ophir getting three [oil] blocks.’”
The brief, with reference number LCS/M494, claims Mr Kabwe made “grossly defamatory statements of and concerning [their] client which have caused him great harm to his personal and business reputation.”
Dated November 2012, the Lawley Shein letter acknowledges that the Chadema MP enjoys parliamentary privilege on statements made in the August House. However, the South African attorneys insist Mr Kabwe abused that privilege. “To the extent that you seek to justify your unlawful and damaging statements under the rubric of parliamentary privilege our client instructs us that this is a ruse used by you to avoid the legal consequences of such a false and defamatory attack,” reads the notice. The attorneys say their client reserves the right to drag Mr Kabwe to court if he “fails to retract the false and defamatory statements” he supposedly made against Mr Mabanga. The youthful legislator, however, is unfazed by the threats.
Mr Kabwe told The Citizen on Sunday that he exercised his rights as an elected official and that his comments in Parliament are protected by parliamentary privilege as stipulated in article 100 of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania.
“Statements by MPs are protected from any legal challenge,” he said, adding “I have already written to the clerk of the National Assembly to inform him of this threat.” Mr Kabwe says he cannot respond to the notice in his personal capacity: It will have to be handled via the office of the Bunge clerk. |
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