HARARE — A court has ordered lawyer and opposition politician Fadzai Mahere to pay US$33,000 in legal costs in her ongoing defamation dispute with youth minister Tino Machakaire.
The order stems from a preliminary application Mahere filed in response to Machakaire’s lawsuit over comments she posted on X.
In that application, known as a special plea, Mahere challenged the legal competence of Machakaire’s claim, essentially arguing that his case had no proper cause of action, the set of facts or allegations that justify a lawsuit.
However, the court ruled that Mahere’s special plea had been filed out of time and struck it off the roll with costs.
Machakaire’s lawyer, Tinomudaishe Chinyoka, subsequently submitted a legal bill of about US$43,000 for arguing the matter. After assessment by the taxing master – a court official responsible for reviewing and approving legal costs claimed by a successful party – the amount was reduced to US$33,000.
On March 7, Chinyoka obtained a writ of execution to recover the amount. The writ allows the Sheriff of the High Court to attach Mahere’s property to settle the debt.
Recovery of the money could, however, be delayed. Mahere’s lawyers have filed an urgent application seeking a stay of the writ while also challenging the costs order on review at the High Court.
Her legal team argues that the fees claimed by Machakaire’s lawyer are “ridiculous.”
The broader dispute between the two dates back to July 2025, when Mahere publicly questioned Machakaire’s alleged connection to an US$8 million tax evasion case involving vehicle imports.
Machakaire responded by filing a defamation lawsuit, arguing that Mahere’s social media posts falsely implied he was involved in corrupt activities and had damaged his reputation.
He maintains that the allegations were false and misleading and had the effect of tarnishing his public image.
Mahere denies defaming the minister, saying her comments amounted to questions raised in the public interest about a government official. Her lawyers argue that citizens have a constitutional right to question public officials in the interests of transparency and accountability.
The legal battle escalated when Mahere filed a counterclaim after Machakaire allegedly made a series of defamatory remarks about her.
According to court papers, Machakaire claimed Mahere had been “corruptly and forcibly foisted into the faculty of law at the University of Zimbabwe despite your well published lack of the minimal (A Level) points.”
He also allegedly claimed that her success as a lawyer involved “well-known bribery racketeering.”
Machakaire is further accused of calling Mahere a “skin bleaching thieving moron with a fake American ghetto accent” and alleging she engaged in “nefarious bed hopping shenanigans.”
Both defamation lawsuits remain pending before the courts.- ZimLive
