Zambia: Simataa Sues Mwanza , Phiri for Defamation

19 March 2011

Amakumbi Stars proprietor Simataa Simataa has sued Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) communications manager Erick Mwanza and accountant Sam Phiri for defamatory statements made against him last year.

Meanwhile, FAZ interim committee president, Andrew Kamanga has charged that the indefinite suspension slapped on Simataa by the FAZ disciplinary committee is totally unacceptable.

This is in a matter in which FAZ, through Mwanza last year, were quoted in the Zambia Daily Mail and on ZNBC news saying that they had reported Simataa to the police for instructing Finance Bank to freeze the association’s accounts.

Simataa said Mwanza and Phiri have 48 hours to respond to the charges.

He said he had earlier warned them against making such remarks which he said were also used as charges to summon him for the disciplinary hearing on Thursday.

According to the notices served on the duo, Simataa said the statements which both Mwanza and Phiri made through the media were defamatory, meant to make him look like he was a criminal.

“Mwanza said that I had attempted to conduct a bank transaction at Finance Bank purporting to represent the association while Phiri said he had written a letter to the bank over the matter as it came to their attention (FAZ) that I was attempting to transact on FAZ account,” he said.

Simataa said all those instances were aimed at making him look like a criminal or that he wanted to defraud FAZ

“They have suspended me, fine. But let us now deal with the defamation issue because I, being employed as acting general secretary by the two-thirds members of FAZ was instructed to write a letter to freeze the accounts on their behalf not as Simataa Simataa,” he said.

Phiri confirmed receiving the summon from Simataa but could not comment saying he was expected to meet his lawyer and FAZ general secretary George Kasengele in the afternoon to chart the way forward while Mwanza’s phone repeatedly went unanswered.

And reacting to the disciplinary committee’s decision to slap an indefinite ban on Simataa for writing a letter to Finance Bank to suspend the FAZ accounts, Kamanga said his group took great exception over the matter and wondered why Simataa was punished in isolation when he was merely executing instructions.

Kamanga said in Ndola yesterday that Simataa, the interim committee’s acting general secretary, wrote to Finance Bank after being directed by the committee following resolutions made.

He said his team, which was elected by the two-thirds of the FAZ members last year, made resolutions that the FAZ accounts be suspended until a legitimate executive committee was ushered into office.

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