Nguvauva loses slander case

DEPUTY Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Kilus Nguvauva, left the High Court in Windhoek in defeat on Friday, after he lost a case in which he was suing a member of the Ovambanderu community for alleged defamation.

Nguvauva failed to prove that the remarks that Maleagi Ndisiro, a traditional leader living at Okombepera in the Aminuis constituency, made during an interview with the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation’s Otjiherero radio service on October 13 2007 harmed his reputation, Acting Judge Nixon Marcus found when he dismissed Nguvauva’s claim against Ndisiro.’Looking at the words uttered by (Ndisiro), it is difficult to see how a reasonable, right-thinking individual of normal intelligence might find the words to be defamatory,’ Acting Judge Marcus stated in his ruling. ‘No disparaging remarks that go against (Nguvauva’s) character are made,’ he found.Nguvauva sued Ndisiro for N$100 000.He claimed that Ndisiro defamed him and injured his reputation through remarks that he made, and which were broadcast on the NBC’s Otjiherero radio service, at a supposed cultural ceremony at Okombepera near Aminuis in mid-October 2007.The ceremony was meant to mark the union of the Red Flag and the Green Flag of that area – with the Red Flag the symbol of the Ovaherero community and the Green Flag that of the Ovambanderu.Nguvauva claimed that during his interview with the NBC, Ndisiro alleged that he received a lawyer’s letter that had been sent by Nguvauva and in which he was told that the Green Flag was not allowed to participate in the ceremony.Nguvauva claimed that Ndisiro stated that Nguvauva, who is a son of the late Ovambanderu Paramount Chief Munjuku Nguvauva II, ‘has had a personal agenda in the Ovambanderu community since time immemorial’.Nguvauva also claimed that Ndisiro said the letter had been written on Nguvauva’s instructions and was part of scare tactics being employed by Nguvauva.According to an English translation of the transcript of the radio interview with Ndisiro, he actually made a comment that Nguvauva had sent the letter, and that Nguvauva ‘has a big issue in our matters’. Nguvauva however told the court last week that he did not give the instructions for the letter to be sent. Ndisiro’s lawyer, Patrick Kauta, asked Acting Judge Marcus to dismiss the claim after Nguvauva had testified in support of his case last week.In his ruling, Acting Judge Marcus commented about the remarks that were made by Ndisiro: ‘It simply states that the letter was sent by (Nguvauva’s) lawyers and delivered by the sheriff on the instructions of (Nguvauva). It goes on to say that the letter was intended to scare (Ndisiro) and his co-organisers, but would have no effect on the planned activities. In other words the activities would proceed as planned. To say of a person that he has had a (personal) agenda (the words used in the transcript are ‘big issue’ which probably means big interest) or for that matter interest in a community is, in the absence of an innuendo, in my view not defamatory.’A reasonable radio listener who heard the interview would, given Nguvauva’s position in society in general and in his community, possibly have given Nguvauva the benefit of the doubt and waited for him to first respond to the allegations, Acting Judge Marcus reasoned. ‘He or she would not jump to conclusions, draw adverse inferences against (Nguvauva’s) character before the allegations are confirmed or refuted. Only listeners with suspicious minds would reach conclusions before listening to the other side,’ he stated.He added: ‘(T)he impression on the suspicious or hypersensitive minds are not taken into account in deciding whether words are capable of a defamatory meaning.’While ruling that Ndisiro would not need to present his defence to the claim to the court, Acting Judge Marcus also ordered Nguvauva to carry Ndisiro’s legal costs in the matter.Nguvauva was represented by Patience Kangueehi-Kanalelo.werner@namibian.com.na