HARARE – Prominent lawyer Fadzayi Mahere has reduced her defamation damages claim against author Petinna Gappah from US$1 million to US$50,000.

Mahere is demanding damages from Gappah, who claimed in a series of tweets that she was not qualified for admission into law school at the University of Zimbabwe and that she had not worked at The Hague as her CV states while also claiming that the latter once tried to snatch her boyfriend.

Gappah, who is also a lawyer and is representing herself, has since apologised to Mahere but the former Mt Pleasant insists the former was not sincere as she still has not acknowledged that the offending statements were false.

The hearing briefly adjourned after Gappah accused Justice Jacob Mafusire of taking Mahere’s side.

Gappah argues that her statements did not affect Mahere’s career negatively in any way as she has continued to thrive in both her political and legal careers.

Mahere said while she indeed has been successful in her career, because of what Gappah said, everyone still believes that “she cheats her way to the top.”

“It is the ‘how I rise’ that was affected. Everyone believes that I cheat my way to the top, that  is irreparable harm,” Mahere told the Harare High Court.

“Of course I am a lawyer, but because of the perceptions I will be called an unscrupulous lawyer. An apology has been issued and some statements retracted, but the defendant still maintains that the statements are true,” she said.

Mahere said the situation now looks like Gappah is using the court to further her mission to soil her reputation and that of her family.

“This is a continuation of the pattern of defamation against myself, my father and my family that the defendant has embarked on. Even though she says she retracted the defamatory statements and apologised, she is insisting with them. She continues to make the attacks and insists those statements were true which shows that she is not sincere,” Mahere told Justice Jacob Mafusire.

Gappah insisted that Mahere has been successful despite what she said against her. She pointed to the fact that she was appointed spokesperson for MDC Alliance and Citizens Coalition for Change respectively, despite what she had said about her.

Gappah also said Mahere was elected as a legislator for Mt Pleasant constituency among other achievements.

She also told court that her retraction and apology was widely circulated compared to the alleged defamatory statements against Mahere.

During proceedings, Gappah accused the judge of showing favour to Mahere.

At one point, the court was forced to adjourn to the chambers after Gappah attacked the judge’s conduct.

“It looks like what is being tried is the truthfulness of my statements, so I would like to have clear instructions on why Mahere is allowed to make reference to statements about issues that I retracted and if I do so I get blocked,” she protested.

The judge said the proceedings were now a “farce” and asked the parties to meet him in his chambers to rectify the issues.

“You don’t seem to appreciate my directive. You’re the one who keeps asking questions that make the plaintiff go back to the same statements. Your cross examination is all over and I don’t see us finishing. You need to confine your cross examination to issues raised in evidence in chief,” the judge told Gappah before cautioning her to stick to the matter against her.

Gappah is expected to file her written closing submissions on June 17, 2024, while Mahere will file her submissions by July 1.

The judge adjourned the matter indefinitely.

Mahere is represented by Nokhuthula Moyo while Gappah is self-acting.