BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)-The High court sitting in Blantyre on Friday, November 3, 2023, ordered Times Group to compensate former Agriculture Minister Dr. George Chaponda with MK50 million for the Maizegate defamation article story.

In 2017, Dr. Chaponda took legal action against Blantyre Newspapers Limited and some of its employees over stories its newspapers published in connection to the Maizegate scandal.

Chaponda sued Times Group Editor-In-Chief George Kasakula, The Daily Times Editor Innocent Chitosi, Sunday Times Editor Chachacha Munthali, Times Reporter Alick Ponje, and The Daily Times Assistant Editor Madalitso Musa.

Times Groups which publishes Daily Times, Malawi Newspapers, and Sunday Times reported extensively on the maize procurement deal from Zambia.

A court order signed by High Court Deputy Registrar I.M Nebi dated November 3, 2023, observes that “On the conduct of the defendant, the defendant’s stance has been that it published the articles in the exercise of its media freedom until the Court found them in the wrong in respect of 6 articles”.

Reads part of the court order, “As regards the value of the Kwacha, it goes without saying that its value keeps on declining.

In the judgment from which these assessment proceedings emanate, the Honourable Judge directed that the damages awarded should not be huge damages that will end up bankrupting the defendants as responsible media freedom is necessary in a democracy as it calls on public servants to account and the media must be protected by the law and the courts.

“The claimant proposed that he be compensated with a sum of MK350,000,000.00 while the defendant proposed that a sum of K5, 000,000.00 would be adequate. All else taken into consideration the Court forms the view that a sum of K50, 000,000.00 would be adequate to compensate the claimant. It is accordingly awarded to him. Made in Chambers this 3rd day of November 2023 at Blantyre”.

Reacting to the ruling, Dr. Chaponda expressed relief saying the verdict should set as a lesson to other media houses who carried their stories without facts or balancing.

The Mulanje South-West lawmaker hinted that this should serve as a lesson to “Malawians that we should love one another and avoid cooking lies to dent other people’s image”.

CASE BACKGROUND

In 2017, Chaponda sued Blantyre Newspapers Limited on the basis that the contents of the story and headline insinuated that he was not willing to cooperate at the expense of being a well-trained lawyer.

The case defendants included The Daily Times Editor Innocent Chitosi, Sunday Times Editor Chachacha Munthali, Times Reporter Alick Ponje, and The Daily Times Assistant Editor Madalitso Musa for extensively reporting on the maize procurement deal from Zambia.

In his summons, Chaponda found fault in the Malawi News issue of 28th January to 3rd February 2017 claiming some of the defendants falsely and maliciously wrote printed, and published or caused to be written defamatory words of and concerning him.

In the summons for the civil case, Chaponda also claims that The Sunday Times positioned his picture against the headline “Epitome of Decadence” on an opinion article that was calculated to portray him as a morally rotten person.

The summon claims that Chaponda’s “image and reputation as a public official and individual has been lowered and brought into public scandal, Odium, and contempt.”

Chaponda sought damages for libel, exemplary and aggravated damages for libel, and legal costs.

But that Times Group vowed to meet Chaponda in court saying the media house stands by all its stories on the maize scandal.

“We have done nothing wrong. We firmly believe in telling Malawians how badly they are being governed and how badly their affairs on food are being managed by those they entrusted with power,” former Times Group Editor-in-Chief Kasakula said.

Kasakula is now the director general for Malawi Broadcasting Cooperation.

Following a court battle, in 2022 the High Court found Times Group Company guilty of defaming Dr. Chaponda with a series of articles maize scandal inquiry.

After the ruling Times Group failed to comply to publicly apologize to Mulanje South West parliamentarian over defamatory articles it published in its newspapers between 2016 and 2017.

Dr. Chaponda was sacked as Agriculture Minister and arrested on July 19 2017 alongside business-person Rashid Tayub of Transglobe Produce Limited and businessperson and chairperson of Grain Traders and Processors Association of Malawi (GTPA) Grace Mijiga-Mhango in connection with the Zambian maize procurement transaction.

The ex-diplomat fought the case – popularly referred to as maize-gate – in the courts on grounds that he did not in any way engage in corrupt dealings with the middlemen – Kaloswe – during the purchase process.

Following several court appearances and a commission inquiry into the issue, Chaponda was acquitted by the Zomba Magistrate Court in June 2020 but after he had been relieved of his portfolio as agriculture minister.

Eventually, a high court ruling by Judge Dingiswayo Madise, on February 28, 2022, ordered Blantyre Newspapers Limited (Times Group) newspapers to apologize to Chaponda and withdraw the articles and that that should be published on the front pages of Times Newspapers within the next 10 days.

But as of Sunday, March 13, 2022 – exactly three days after the court-issued deadline – the media house had not complied with the order of publicly apologizing to the embattled minister.

The ruling, among others, urged the fair disbursement of media freedom.

Reads the judgment in part: “No one should injure the reputation of other people under the guise of fair comment and media freedom. I, therefore, order the defendants who authored those articles if still in employment to withdraw the articles so cited and apologize sincerely to the claimant on the front pages of all the papers involved in this case within 10 days.”

According to the judgment, the front page must not carry any other article apart from the apology ordered.

Adds the judgment: “The claimant is entitled to monetary damages and l order the registrar to assess damages taking into account the apology that the defendant will make. It is not in the interest of this court to order huge damages which will end up bankrupting the defendants.”

Madise’s judgment reminded the media that responsible media freedom was necessary in a democracy as it calls on public servants to account and that must be protected by the law and the courts.

Meanwhile, Times Group has paid the compensation to Dr. Chaponda.