Mahere faces moment of truth as same judge assigns himself Machakaire case

Former opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere faces a moment of truth on Thursday (12 March 2026) after High Court Judge Tawanda Chitapi again assigned himself the defamation case pitting her against Youth Empowerment Minister Tinoda Machakaire.

Machakaire sued Mahere over remarks she made in July 2025 on microblogging site X questioning the Minister over an alleged US$8 million tax evasion case linked to vehicle importation that she suggested had been investigated by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission.

Mahere filed an exception and a special plea to Machakaire’s claim and it was Justice Chitapi who dismissed those objections with costs, and these form the basis of the USD $33,000 now claimed by Machakaire.

Nehanda Radio reported this week how the High Court of Zimbabwe had ordered the attachment of property belonging to the former Mt Pleasant legislator.

Mahere, herself an Advocate, has since challenged the costs and applied for a stay of execution pending that challenge; the stay is scheduled for hearing before Justice Chitapi on Thursday at 12:00.

In the same dispute, Machakaire has also brought an application contesting a procedural step taken by Mahere, and that application is listed for hearing again before Justice Chitapi next week.

Justice Chitapi is the Head of the Civil Division of the High Court of Zimbabwe and gets to pick which cases he wants to hear.

Machakaire’s lawyers, Prichard Attorneys, acting in his personal capacity, accused Mahere of making false, defamatory and malicious allegations that implied the minister was corrupt and had used public funds to acquire luxury vehicles.

The legal team argued that Mahere’s questions, combined with the statement “we need new leaders,” created an insinuation that Machakaire was dishonest and involved in corrupt activities.

They demanded that Mahere issue a public apology and retract the statements both in a widely circulated Zimbabwean newspaper and on her X account, which has hundreds of thousands of followers.

The lawyers also contended that as a legal practitioner, Mahere had a duty to verify allegations before making public statements that could harm another person’s reputation.

Machakaire’s legal representatives warned that failure to retract the statements would result in legal action under defamation laws, ultimately leading to the High Court proceedings that produced the latest writ of execution.