Chifire evades court?

SELF proclaimed anti-corruption campaigner Gregory Chifire has reportedly evaded court appearance in a matter he has been sued for libel by Minister of Housing and Infrastructure Ronald Chitotela.

Mr. Chitotela has dragged Chifire to court for accusing him of being involved in corrupt practices with the Road Development Agency (RDA).

The minister’s lawyer Daina Kapitolo, of Messrs. Makebi Zulu Advocates, yesterday told Magistrate Humphrey Chitalu that they attempted to serve a copy of the summons, affidavit verifying facts, complaint, and indictment on Chifire but to no avail.

“We made a final call to the said accused person on 20th April 2018 to arrange to have the above mentioned documents served on him personally. In response the said accused person repeatedly insisted we serve on his lawyers and not himself.

“The said accused person made a post on Facebook relating to the same. However, the said lawyers are not on record as his appointed advocates as this Honourable Court’s record will show,” Ms. Kapitolo said.

Chifire is charged with libel and alleged to have unlawfully published a defamatory statement concerning Mr Chitotela with intent to defame him between January 4 and 8, 2018.

Details in the affidavit filed in the Magistrate Court state that Chifire posted on his Facebook page a statement about Mr Chitotela which was defamatory in nature.

According to the minister, the statement, which alleged that he corruptly acquired a personal vehicle from RDA, was defamatory, false and malicious.