DPC wins defamation case

In a judgement delivered on Friday, Court of Appeal (CoA) judges ruled that the Francistown High Court judge had erred in finding for Muzila. Justice Mpaphi Phumaphi had ruled in favour of Muzila after she filed and won a defamation lawsuit against DPC for a story published in Mmegi in 2007 under the headline, "DC Muzila seeks divorce from husband of 34 years". DPC is the publisher of Mmegi and The Monitor newspapers.

Muzila had sued Mmegi for P650,000 for alleged defamation of character. However, Justice Phumaphi awarded her P60,000 in damages. The article was published together with a picture of Muzila with a microphone in front of her.In his judgment, Phumaphi had stated that the evidence of Muzila and other witnesses she called, pointed to the general impression by the public that she was of low morals and as such, had no difficulty in broadcasting what was going on between her and her husband.