Katiti wins first round in newspaper libel case

THE N$300 000 defamation claim of former Walvis Bay Municipality Chief Executive Officer Augustinus Katiti against The Namibian is due to continue after a ruling was given in Katiti’s favour in the High Court in Windhoek yesterday.

In the ruling by Acting Judge Petrus Unengu an application by the newspaper, its former editor, Gwen Lister, and Swakopmund-based reporter Adam Hartman for Katiti’s defamation claim against them to be dismissed was itself dismissed with costs. This means that the newspaper, Hartman and Lister will now have to present their defence to Katiti’s libel claim to the court when the defamation trial continues at a future date, which still has to be set.At this stage of the proceedings before him the evidence which Katiti placed before the court has established a case upon which a court could or might find in Katiti’s favour, Acting Judge Unengu found.That is because the newspaper, Lister and Hartman have admitted that the article which Katiti claimed was defamatory was indeed published in the newspaper, and because Katiti testified that his reputation was hurt by the article, which he claimed was not factually correct, the judge indicated.Katiti is suing The Free Press of Namibia, which is the company owning The Namibian, Lister, Hartman, and estate agent Regina Kotchanova for N$300 000 in connection with an article which was published in The Namibian on December 21 2007.He is claiming that the article, which was about a theft charge which Kotchanova had laid against him with the Namibian Police in Windhoek, was defamatory. According to Katiti the article was understood by the reading public to mean that he was being criminally prosecuted, that he was allegedly a thief and criminal, someone who did not honour his contractual obligations, and an amoral and untrustworthy person, and that he had illegally sold office equipment and furniture which belonged to a real estate franchise which he had bought from Kotchanova’s husband in mid-2007.The Namibian, Lister and Hartman are denying that the article was defamatory or that its publication was unlawful. They have pleaded that the facts reported in the article were essentially the truth, and that the publication was reasonable and in the public interest.In the article, Kotchanova was quoted as saying that she had laid a theft charge against Katiti after he had allegedly failed to pay the full agreed price for the real estate franchise that he had bought from her husband. She also claimed he had sold off office equipment and furniture belonging to the real estate agency before he had paid in full for the franchise.The largest part of the article was devoted to a statement which Katiti’s lawyer had issued on his behalf and in which Kotchanova’s claims were dismissed.After the Police had investigated the charge laid by Kotchanova, the Prosecutor General decided not to prosecute Katiti, Acting Judge Unengu has been told.The article which prompted Katiti to sue the newspaper was published about nine months after Katiti had received a controversial pay-out of N$2,78 million from the Walvis Bay Municipality on his resignation from his job at the local authority.He resigned from his post on March 27 2007, with his resignation taking effect on April 2 2007.In terms of his employment contract with the municipality, Katiti and the municipality had to give each other 60 days notice if either of them wanted to end their employment relationship.His resignation took place some three years before his five-year term of office was to come to an end.The pay-out made headlines in the media at the time and resulted in a court case in which the Walvis Bay Residents Association sued the Walvis Bay Municipal Council, Katiti, the Erongo Regional Council, and the Minister of Regional and Local Government in an attempt to get the court to overturn the decision to make such a generous pay-out to Katiti.The matter was settled in June 2009, when the Residents Association agreed to withdraw its case and the Walvis Bay Municipal Council agreed to pay N$350 000 to the association to help cover its legal costs.Katiti faced prolonged questioning over the pay-out during the hearing of his case against the newspaper last year. He justified the payment by telling the judge that he and his employer had reached a negotiated settlement with regard to his resignation, and that in his opinion he deserved the payment.In the defamation claim Katiti is being represented by Harald Heier, on instructions from Alwyn Harmse, from the law firm Fisher, Quarmby & Pfeifer. The newspaper, Lister and Hartman are being represented by Andrew Corbett, on instructions from Michael Böttger of the firm Lorentz-Angula Inc.