Mahere demands apology from Machakaire for ‘sexcapades’ slurs

HARARE – Zimbabwean lawyer and political activist Fadzayi Mahere has threatened to sue Youth Minister Tinoda Machakaire for defamation, accusing him of publishing a series of “false, malicious and defamatory” posts on social media.

The warning came through a letter from Diza Attorneys on Tuesday, in response to Machakaire’s earlier legal threat demanding a public apology from Mahere over a post linking him to an alleged US$8 million tax evasion scandal.

In a sharply worded rebuttal, Mahere’s lawyers dismissed Machakaire’s original demand and instead issued their own ultimatum: delete the posts and apologize within 24 hours—or face a lawsuit.

“Our client denies defaming Mr. Tinoda Machakaire in the manner you allege or at all,” Diza Attorneys wrote in the letter dated July 8. “The suggestion that a series of questions, posed in the spirit of seeking accountability and transparency from a Cabinet Minister, constitute defamation is legally untenable.”

Mahere’s legal team also argued that they were contradictions in Machakaire’s legal basis, arguing that while the minister claimed to be acting in his personal capacity, he cited the Freedom of Information Act, which only applies to public officials in their official roles.

“To the extent that your client is proceeding as a private citizen, this law cannot apply to him,” the lawyers argued.

But the counterattack was more than legal technicalities. Mahere’s lawyers accused Machakaire of making multiple defamatory statements about her on his X (formerly Twitter) account between July 5 and 6—posts which they say were viewed more than 166,000 times and widely shared.

Among the most damaging allegations, according to the letter, Machakaire claimed Mahere had fraudulently gained admission into the University of Zimbabwe’s Faculty of Law, called her a “paid political spy,” and accused her of exchanging sexual favors for luxury items, including a Jaguar.

“The clear implication in your client’s tweets is that our client… bribes judges and runs a racket that secures “corrupt, syndicated outcomes… is a woman of loose morals who has illicitly cohabited with men and engages in “sexcapades” for payment in the form of gifts and expensive cars and is a moron and a thief,” the letter states. “These defamatory statements are wholly untrue and have the effect of harming our client’s academic, professional and political standing as well as her personal reputation.”

Mahere’s legal team demanded that Machakaire issue a retraction and apology via his X account, clarifying that he has no evidence to support his claims.

“If you institute legal proceedings on the basis stated in your letter, we will seek an exemplary order of costs on the grounds that such a claim would be a frivolous and vexatious abuse of court process,” the lawyers warned.

“We are instructed to demand, as we hereby do, that your client publishes an apology and retraction of all of the above publications on his X handle that includes the clarification that he has no evidence to substantiate his claims that our client did not qualify to enter the University of Zimbabwe Law School, gained entry thereto through corruption, is a ‘thieving moron,’ runs a bribery racket, engaged in espionage, cohabited with a man illicitly, engaged in sexcapades or had a one-night stand with a man who bought her a Jaguar in return.”

As of Tuesday evening, Machakaire had not responded publicly to the counter-demand.