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Matero Member of Parliament, Miles Sampa, has denied defaming former Bank of Zambia (BoZ) Governor, Christopher Mvunga, arguing that the latter being a public figure was not immune to public accountability and scrutiny.
Sampa contended that his statement was a fair comment on a matter of public interest and has asked the Lusaka High Court to dismiss the case for irregular.
This was a matter in which Mvunga filed a suit against Sampa in the Lusaka High Court demanding K100 million damages for accusing him of having released money, more than K65 million from the Central bank claimed to have been found with journalist Faith Musonda.
Mvunga contended that Sampa accused him of being dishonest, corrupt and incompetent, which had affected his reputation in society, especially in the financial industry.
Sampa, a former Finance Deputy Minister on January 29, 2024, was alleged to have maliciously published on his Facebook Page which has more than 750 followers, an article titled “FORMER BANK GOVERNOR ORDERED WITHDRAW OF CASH GIVEN TO FAITH MUSONDA” and mentioned the plaintiff by name in the article.
Sampa in his filed defence denied authoring the article but admitted that he uttered the words out of fair comment in public interest.
“The defendant merely asked for investigation of the same allegations by investigative wings in order to get to the bottom of the matter so as to avoid speculation,” he stated.
Sampa submitted that he was not issued with a demand letter seeking an apology as claimed by the plaintiff.
He said he was only served with the statement of claim.
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