HARARE – Senior lawyer Edwin Isaac Manikai has lost a High Court bid to interdict journalist and political activist Jealousy Mbizvo Mawarire over tweets alleging he was used as a courier for a large sum of money in a scheme linked to Constitutional Amendment (No. 3) Bill.
Manikai has now applied for leave to appeal the ruling.
Justice Esther Muremba struck the matter off the roll of urgent applications on April 9, 2026, ruling that the article complained of did not personally identify the lawyer, since “Manikai” is not a name unique to him, and that the interim relief sought was fatally defective because it was not anchored on a final relief to be pursued on a return day, but was instead premised on a damages summons to be filed within 30 days of the order.
The dispute traces back to posts published on Mawarire’s X account (@mawarirej) on March 31 and April 2, 2026, in an article titled “Money and how Fuzwayo’s application crumbled.”
In the posts, Mawarire alleged that a person named “Manikai” had personally delivered a large sum of cash to bankroll the ill-fated Mbuso Fuzwayo and Ibhetshu LikaZulu Constitutional Court application, which Mawarire characterised as a scheme orchestrated by Zanu PF to pre-empt genuine legal challenges to the Bill.
Manikai, a founding partner of Dube, Manikai & Hwacha law firm and chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council, denied any involvement and demanded a retraction on April 2.
Mawarire refused, insisting the Manikai referenced in his posts was not Edwin Manikai and offering to publish a letter to that effect.
Manikai’s lawyers filed the urgent chamber application on April 8 seeking an order compelling Mawarire to remove the posts and restraining further publication, pending a $150,000 damages suit to be filed within 30 days.
Mawarire, represented by Mkhuhlani Chiperesa, filed an opposing affidavit describing the application as an abuse of process with no prospects of success. He argued that Manikai, as chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council and personal lawyer to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, is a public figure who must accept political exposure, and that the application was designed to silence his constitutionally protected freedom of speech and media rights under Sections 60, 61 and 67 of the Constitution.
Mawarire, who swore his affidavit in Windhoek, Namibia, also contended that no appealable judgement existed because a matter struck off for lack of urgency is simply transferred to the ordinary roll by operation of Rule 60(19) of the High Court Rules.
Manikai’s legal team at Dube, Manikai & Hwacha filed a chamber application for leave to appeal on April 14, arguing on three grounds: that the court erred in striking the matter off without a hearing in contravention of Rule 60(18); that a finding that Manikai had not been defamed was a finding of fact that could not properly be made in chambers without argument; and that the court wrongly rejected the proposition that an interim interdict tied to a 30-day summons window falls within recognised exceptions to the general rule.
Mawarire has now filed an opposing affidavit to the leave application, repeating his argument that no right of appeal exists where a matter has merely been struck off and transferred to the ordinary roll, and that the application is incompetent.
The leave application is pending before the High Court.
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