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Bailiffs attach Gappah properties after she lost defamation battle with Mahere

HARARE

Bailiffs
have
attached
the
property
of
author
Petina
Gappah
worth
US$14,700
after
she
lost
a
defamation
lawsuit
against
lawyer
Fadzayi
Mahere.

Mahere
was
awarded
US$18,000
in
damages
by
the
Harare
High
Court
in
August
after
Gappah,
writing
on
X,
formerly
Twitter,
made
a
series
of
defamatory
statements
including
that
the
former
Mt
Pleasant
MP
did
not
qualify
for
enrolment
at
the
University
of
Zimbabwe
but
was
accepted
only
because
her
father,
then
a
permanent
secretary
in
government,
exerted
his
influence;
that
she
wrote
the
essay
that
enabled
Mahere
to
be
admitted
into
Cambridge
University
for
her
Master’s
Degree
and
that
Mahere
tried
to
seduce
her
ex-partner.

Gappah
issued
a
public
statement
and
apology
in
May
saying
she
wished
to
“fully
and
unequivocally
retract
all
the
statements”
she
made
about
Mahere
and
offered
to
donate
to
a
charity
of
Mahere’s
choosing
“in
order
to
bring
a
conclusive
end
to
the
legal
action.”

Mahere
said
the
apology
was
not
genuine
and
pressed
on
with
her
claim
of
US$50,000,
before
a
judge
awarded
her
US$18,000.


Documents
seen
by
ZimLive
show
that
the
Sheriff
visited
Gappah’s
Highlands
property
and
attached
several
items
including
a
refrigerator
and
dining
suite
on
November
6.
The
value
of
the
property
fell
short
of
US$18,000.

It
is
the
latest
chapter
in
a
“long,
arduous
and
acrimonious”
legal
battle
between
the
two
lawyers,
as
Justice
Joseph
Martin
Mafusire
observed
in
his
judgement.

Justice
Mafusire
found
that
Gappah’s
defence
to
the
“vile
and
persistent”
defamation
was
laced
with
“bitterness
and
malice”
as
he
ruled
in
Mahere’s
favour.

Gappah,
an
international
trade
lawyer,
is
the
author
of
two
novels, Out
of
Darkness,
Shining
Light
;
and The
Book
of
Memory
;
and
two
short
story
collections, Rotten
Row
 and An
Elegy
for
Easterly
.

Former
Mt
Pleasant
MP
Mahere
is
an
advocate
in
Zimbabwe’s
superior
courts
and
a
former
spokesperson
of
the
Citizens
Coalition
for
Change.