Tenant loses defamation case
Written by Millennium on March 5, 2019
A WOMAN of Chongwe has lost her defamation case in the Boma Local courts against her former landlady because it lacked merits.
Before Senior Local Court Magistrate Silvia Kabunda was Evon Muuma, 49 who sued her landlady Mary Tembo Musisi, of Woodlands for allegedly tainting her name.
In her statement, Muuma told the court that she had been receiving calls and stories from her neighbours that Musisi had been spreading word that she (Muuma) had not been paying rentals.
Muma also said that Musisi accuses her of owing K4, 500 which she said had already been paid.
‘I was Musisi’s tenant in 2010. She offered us the house for sale in February, 2016. At the time, my husband had a fracture and money was being spent in hospital so we did not buy the house but continued paying rentals,
“She understood our situation because she would even visit my husband in hospital. Sometimes when I send her money for rentals, she would call my husband that I haven’t paid,’ Ms Muuma explained.
She further told the court that on several occasions Musisi had gone into their house even without knocking, demanding for her money.
In her defence, Musisi told the court that it was unfair for Muuma to be accusing her of tarnishing her name because everything she said about her was true.
‘Even after I gave them enough time, they kept giving excuses, I called her after 6 months and she did not specify when they would pay. She even went as far as extending my house without my consent,’ Musisi explained.
The court found that there gross misunderstandings between the two over payments for the house.
Magistrate Kabunda however ruled out defamation of character because Muuma said she was not there when Musisi had gone to the house where she allegedly caused a scene.
