Nkaigwa trashes Guma�s reputation case
Mpho Mokwape | Friday September 2, 2016 15:25
Nkaigwa, who is being sued by Guma for P2 million, said the fact that the latter was currently a subject of criminal investigations has proven that he has no reputation to cry about.
The two appeared on Wednesday at the Lobatse High Court for case management as Guma forges ahead with the legal suit. He has claimed that Nkaigwa had allegedly used defamatory and insulting words, which where written and published on Facebook.
In his latest filing of his plea dated August 18, 2016 the Gaborone North MP, despite denying any knowledge of the alleged Facebook post, said he would however show that Guma was not a law-abiding citizen.
He accused him of having no moral fibre and being dishonest in that he was currently a subject of criminal investigations by the financial crime agency and other law enforcement agencies in relation to his company and tax evasion charges. Nkaigwa also denied any liability to Guma saying there has not been any publication of the alleged words and that he was the one who published it if there was any. “The contents are denied only to the extent that there was publication of the alleged words in any medium of communication and if there was the defendant who published the alleged words and also to the extent that the plaintiff suffered any injury to his reputation,” he said.
He dared Guma to prove his allegations failure to which his claims be dismissed with costs on a punitive scale. However, Guma has a different tune to sing. In his July declaration filing, he says he wants damages because on or about April 22, 2016, Nkaigwa published a Facebook post to humiliate and degrade him. Guma stated that the Facebook defamatory statements contained the following matters:
“Guma can only cheat those who don’t know him. Jang dijo betsho, le madi lea tsee le dino le dinwe. Madi a bogodu a tshwanetse go jewa akere gaa huhulelwa. Kalanga.s (sic) and voters of Francistown South are not cheap as Guma thinks.
You can ride them but never ever dream that they will vote Bdp.
It pains to see how Bdp continue (sic) to undermine the integrity of our brothers and sisters. Vote Udc. The devil and its Bdp agents will be humbled tomorrow. Be blessed God has given us this one. Money is the root cause of all evil and God has exposed it and whatever is exposed is rendered powerless.”
Guma explained that the publication was made with the intention to humiliate, degrade, insult and to impair his dignity and his self-esteem.
“It was humiliating to say to an MP that he was dishonest, corrupt and a thief whose political campaigns are funded from proceeds of corruption or financial crime. The post was an aggression upon my personality rights, self esteem and feelings, as a result was humiliated and aggrieved,” he said. Guma is now seeking P1.5m in damages for defamation and damages for injuria in the sum of P500,000 with an interest thereon at the rate of 10% per annum from the date of the judgement to the date of full payment and costs of suit. The duo will be back in court on October 12.