Our ref: Mr. Nkomo/ob
Your ref:
27th June 2011
THE EDITOR
Sunday Mail Newspaper
HARARE
Dear Sir/Madam
RE: NEWS ARTICLE: OUR CLIENT MR. CHARLTON HWENDE
We represent Mr. Charlton Hwende, kindly note our interest.
Our instructions are:-
That in your June 26 – July 2 2011, edition of the Sunday Mail, you wrongfully and unlawfully caused to be published an article titled, “Biti in messy office romance scandal”. The story appeared on page (1) and (4) of the said paper. Your article which is full of incoherent and inconclusive facts is wrong and unlawful as it relates to our client in the following respects:-
i) Our client denies ever having a meeting with Caesar Matandirotya for the purposes of discussing the alleged affair.
ii) Mr. Hwende, never at any point carried a brief on behalf of Matandirotya to carry out a private investigation for the purposes of identifying and pinning down the person who was and/or is allegedly having an affair with Matandirotya’s wife.
iii) He further denies meeting Matandirotya’s maid as alleged or at all and has no knowledge of the alleged confession.
iv) Our client never implicated Honourable Biti in the so called affair and has no knowledge that there is/was such an affair.
It is against this background that we demand as we hereby do, that you:-
a) Retract the allegations made against our client in your next edition of the Sunday Mail with the same prominence that was given to this unlawful and wrongful story, failing which we shall proceed to issue Summons without notice to you.
b) Write a letter of apology to our client.
You will of course appreciate that you proceeded to publish without giving our client any opportunity to present his side of the story. It becomes apparent therefore, that you carefully avoided calling him so as to publish this malicious and wrongful article.
Be guided accordingly.
H. NKOMO
MTETWA & NYAMBIRAI
Incorporating WILMOT & BENNETT
cc – client by email
