SOCIALIST party leader, Fred M’membe and his Secretary General Cosmas Musumali have sued Rainbow party General Secretary, Wynter Kabimba, the Daily Nation Newspapers and Millennium Radio station manager, Patricia Chibiliti for defamation of character and seeking an injunction to stop further reference to the homosexual story.
M’membe is suing over a Millennium Radio show featuring Mr Kabimba, in which the latter claimed he differed with Socialist party over homosexual sentiments.
The duo are also seeking an injunction to restrain the named media from further publishing any comments on the subject.
In his statement of claim in which he is seeking damages for defamation of character, Mr M’membe accused the defendants of publishing defamatory words against him with intent to damage his public image and character as a leader whose party aspires to form government.
He wants the court to grant him an injunction to retrain the defendants from further publishing the said or similar words against him.
“Unless restrained by the court, the defendants and each of them will continue to publish or cause to be published the said or similar words defamatory to me,” Mr M’membe said.
Mr M’membe claimed that on April 3 2018, Mr Kabimba and Ms Chibiliti caused to be published during a live radio interview on millennium radio that;…Let me go further because this issue needs to be clarified.. Why did you have differences in the Rainbow Party with your colleagues? Firstly, we disagreed with the type of people that they wanted to bring into the part as financiers.
..We disagreed with their sexual orientation.
OK! We are not so desperate that we can get money from anybody into the political party, so we looked at some of the characters they brought, some of whom attended the launch this last weekend and their sexual orientation vis a vis our moral standing as a political party which exists in a Christian nation…
M’membe claimed that during the same interview, Mr Kabimba and Ms Chibiliti caused to be published on Millennium Radio’s Facebook page, during a commercial break, while laughing and giggling before the volume was cut off the live feed that; You want me to be a homosexual in order to run a political party with so many women in Lusaka, why?
He alleged that the words were understood to mean that he and the members of the Socialist Party are homosexuals and proponents of homosexual relationships.
Further that the Socialist party is founded on immoral principles and values and gets funding from immoral people.
Mr M’membe contended that the Daily Nation newspaper caused to be published a defamatory article on April 24 2018 under the headline Kabimba Spills beans that; Socialist Party leaders broke away from the Rainbow Party because we disagreed with their views on sexual orientation and radical approach against prayer, says RP General Secretary, Wynter Kabimba.
And now, he wants exemplary damages, damages for defamation, an injunction, cost, interest and any other reliefs that the court may deem fit.