Nakacinda blocks Prime TV

THE Lusaka High Court has granted an interim injunction sought by MMD national secretary Raphael Nakacinda restraining Prime Television Limited from producing any material from the interview in which the TV station allegedly defamed him.

This follows an application for an order of interim injunction dated May 30, 2018 in which Mr. Nakacinda contend that the station caused to be broadcast, an interview wherein he was called a thief and a convict. He claimed that the said defamatory interview had continued to be streamlined online, causing him to suffer further damage and that as a result of the said defamatory interview, his name has been put in disrepute and lowered his image in the eyes of the members of the public. He submitted that even after requesting the station to retract their statement, they refused and or neglected to do so but continued to injure him in the political arena as well as in the business world as he is a politician and a businessman. But according to the ruling dated September 26, 2018, High Court Judge Elita Mwikisa said that the court was not in dispute that the interview where it was alleged that the applicant was called a thief took place. Justice Mwikisa said having carefully considered the evidence on record, she was of the view that there was a serious dispute to be tried at the main trial. Judge Mwikisa said she had examined both copies of the alleged interview from the Mr. Nakacinda and Prime TV and found that there were some basis on which the Mr. Nakacinda felt entitled to an order of interim injunction as the words allegedly complained of, namely of being a thief, could damage his reputation as a politician. "I find that the balance of convenience lies with the applicant rather than the respondents as his reputation would suffer more if the Respondents were left at liberty to continue publishing articles that have the propensity of further damaging the applicant's reputation. “I am of the considered view that damages will not be adequate if the injunction were not granted to the applicant in that he would suffer irreparable injury. It is for these reasons that I hereby confirm the order of the interim injunction earlier granted to the applicant on June 8, 2018," Judge Mwikisa ordered.