Sishuwa sued Mwamba over story
POLITICAL analyst Professor Sishuwa Sishuwa has sued Zambia’s ambassador to Ethiopia, Emmanuel Mwamba in the Lusaka High Court for defamation.
Dr Sishuwa is demanding compensatory and exemplary damages for defamation, damages for malicious falsehood as well as interest at the current commercial bank lending rate on all the sums found due.
He also wants an order of injunction directing Mr Mwamba to withdraw the defamatory article from circulation and restraining him whether by himself or agents from making and publishing any further defamatory statements against him in his public debates, statements opinions or otherwise.
In his statement of claim filed in the Lusaka High Court on April 20, this year, Dr Sishuwa who is also a lecturer in the department of History at the University of Zambia stated that last March he authored an article titled “This is why Zambia may burn after the August election, here is how to prevent this” .
He said he submitted the said article to South African newspaper called the Mail & Guardian for publication.
He claims that the article was the product of his intellect, its publication was not instigated or procured by any person, and it was admitted for publication at no cost.
Dr Sishuwa said the Mail & Guardian published the article on March 22, 2021 and it circulated it on March 26, the same year.
However, Dr Sishuwa stated that on March 29, this year, Mr Mwamba reacted to his article on his facebook page saying that Sishuwa is wrong, Zambia will remain peaceful and prosperous beyond August ,2021.
Mr Mwamba in his post is alleged to have further said that Dr Sishuwa’s attempt to scandalise Zambia, harm its reputation and impose a false alarming international narrative will not succeed.
Dr Sishuwa said Mr Mwamba wrote that he was a sympathiser of a certain political party who had embarked on sabotage the country after realising that the same party would not will the August elections.
He said that Mr Mwamba’s reaction article was circulated on different social media platforms. Dr Sishuwa said that Mr Mwamba’s words were not only defamatory but were also false and the ambassador published them maliciously.