HARARE – Author Petina Gappah on Monday retracted defamatory comments she made about fellow lawyer Fadzayi Mahere, but the latter’s camp is understood to be of the view that the apology did not go far enough.
Mahere sued Gappah for US$1 million in defamation damages and the matter is still in court.
In an apology she posted on X, formerly Twitter, Gappah said: “In order to bring a conclusive end to the legal action, I hereby fully and unequivocally retract all the statements that I made about her both on Twitter and in subsequent legal pleadings and tender a full, public and unreserved apology to Advocate Mahere for any pain, hurt or distress that were caused by my statements.”
Gappah had claimed that Mahere got enrolled at the University of Zimbabwe through the help of her father when she in fact she met the academic requirements; that she was an intern when she worked at The Hague in 2019; that she attempted to ‘get in the pants’ of the father of her son and that she helped her get into Cambridge University by editing her essay in 2009.
Mahere and her lawyers are understood to be dissatisfied with the framing of the apology, noting that Gappah has not conceded that her statements were false – the basis of the lawsuit.
“This is not a sincere and adequate apology within the parameters of law of defamation… An opportunity to make things right has been wasted,” lawyer Obey Shava, a friend of Mahere, observed on X.
“She doesn’t acknowledge that she lied in that statement. The very basis of the lawsuit has not been dealt with.”
Gappah offered to make an undisclosed financial donation to a charity of Mahere’s choice “as a demonstration of my good faith, sincerity and regret.”
Gappah is the author of several books including An Elegy for Easterly which won the Guardian First Book Award in 2009. Mahere is a former MP for Mt Pleasant and an advocate in Zimbabwe’s upper courts.
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