By Torby Chimhashu
New Zimbabwe
August 8, 2007
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/pages/roma39.16783.html
THE legal wrangle between lawyers for a prominent Zimbabwean Catholic cleric and legal representatives of a man accusing him of adultery continued to play out at the Bulawayo High Court on Wednesday.
Nicholas Mathonsi, the defence counsel for Archbishop Pius Ncube, has made a second demand for "further and better" particulars of Onesimus Sibanda's claim in the $20 billion (£80000) lawsuit.
Mathonsi's fresh demands came after an earlier bid to be furnished with more details of the claim were spurned by Sibanda's lawyers who said much of the details sought would be made available during trial.
Instead, Munyaradzi Nzarayapenda, representing Sibanda, filed a notice of amendment to the original claim last week, breaking down the lawsuit into $10 billion for "loss of consortium" and another $10 billion for "contumelia".
The original claim demanded $10 billion in "adultery damages", $5 billion for "loss of consortium", and $5 billion for "loss of contumelia" (loss of comfort). The claim, the lawyers said, remains adultery except that it has now been broken down into specific damages.
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| ARCHBISHOP Pius Ncube |
Mathonsi told New Zimbabwe.com on Wednesday that they were still not happy with the information supplied by the claimants, and could be forced to apply to the High Court to compel them to supply the requested details of the claim.
"I have filed a second request for further particulars today. The information provided in response to our last request was nonsensical and hopelessly insufficient…it was nothing at all," Mathonsi said.
Mathonsi wants Sibanda's legal team to explain the alleged "malicious association" and details of when the alleged adulterous acts occurred, and the witnesses to the alleged incidents.
Mathonsi said: "It is Onesimus Sibanda who is seeking damages for alleged acts of adultery, and for that reason, he must supply particulars of the alleged adultery including the dates, times and venues of the alleged acts of adultery as well as the details of those who witnessed the alleged acts.
"Sibanda has alleged that Archbishop Ncube engaged in 'an adulterous relationship well knowing of the marital status of Sibanda's wife'. He is therefore obliged to supply the particulars and Archbishop Ncube demands those particulars as he is entitled to them in law.
"The particulars supplied are extremely insufficient and there is nothing evidentiary about the alleged humiliation and impairment of dignity which particularity Archbishop Ncube requires to enable him to plead."
Key to the case – which lawyers say could take up to one-and-half years before a hearing is set – is secret video footage shown on state television which legal experts say will likely be inadmissible in court.
Ernest Tekere, a retired police officer and private investigator, has claimed that the footage belongs to him after he was hired by Sibanda to trail his wife, Rosemary.
Ncube's supporters say the allegations are an elaborate plot by the country's intelligence services to embarrass and silence his criticism of President Robert Mugabe's regime.
Ncube has been a vocal critic of Mugabe since independence in 1980, and has said he would support a foreign military intervention to end his rule.
The Vatican has yet to make a public statement about the claims against Ncube, which if proved, could be catastrophic to his career and public standing.
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