Minister of Foreign Affairs, who is also Malawi Congress Party (MCP)’s Secretary-General, Eisenhower Mkaka has won a defamation case against Gitta Phiri and US-based social media influencer Manes Winnie Chitedze Hale, popularly know as Abiti Manes.
The court has ordered the defendants to pay Mkaka damages, retract their accusations, issue a public apology and pay court costs.
Both Manes and Phiri were on Mkaka’s reputation damage in 2021 when they accused him of corruption and mocked his physical appearance.
Mkaka’s Publicist Negrecious Justin confirmed the default judgment to Nyasa Daily but refused to comment further.
“All I can say is that Hon. Mkaka has indeed received a default judgment in his favor after both defendants failed to show up for court proceedings,” he said.
It is reported that Abiti Manes failed to appear before court via Zoom (a video conference software) on multiple occasions due to time differences and it is reported that on one occasion, a man claiming to represent her appeared in the Zoom but could not identify himself.
The Court rebuffed that unidentified and unwelcome representation and proceeded with a default judgment in that stead.
Gitta Phiri, who appeared on the court documents as the first defendant, allegedly pioneered the allegations against Mkaka in which she said he received bribes from David Whitehead and Sons Limited.
Phiri alleged that the Minister received a K300 million bribe to take up the task of shielding the company from the consequences of its alleged tax evasion scandal involving K22 billion.
Prior to the Court proceedings, Mkaka’s PRO Mr. Justin trashed the accusations against Mkaka during an interview.
