Renowned hip hop artist Christabel Stembeni, popularly known as Kikky Badass, has been ordered to pay US$18,000 in defamation damages to prominent Masvingo lawyer Rodney Saratoga Makausi.
The High Court ruling, delivered by Justice Sunsley Zisengwe, stems from an Instagram post Kikky made in March 2023, where she accused Makausi of soliciting sexual favours from her.
According to Masvingo Mirror, Makausi, a respected legal practitioner and businessman, initially sued for US$500,000 after Kikky refused to delete the post shared with her 235,000 followers.
The case took a significant turn when Kikky failed to meet key court deadlines, including filing Pre-Trial Conference (PTC) issues and attending the October 1, 2024, hearing.
Consequently, Justice Garainesu Mawadze granted Makausi’s request for a default judgment.
Although Makausi later revised his damages claim to US$60,000, the court awarded him US$18,000 in compensation.
Masvingo Mirror reported that in his submission, Makausi argued that the post caused severe harm to his reputation as a lawyer, a devout Seventh-day Adventist, and a family man within the Masvingo community.
“As a devout Christian, professional man, respected legal practitioner, and officer of the court, in a fairly small city like Masvingo, my reputation and character are my currency. The respondent’s defamatory posts have caused irreparable harm to that fama.
“The embarrassment and ridicule that I have suffered as a result of her defamatory post is borne for no reason at all,” Makausi stated.
Kikky had earlier filed a plea to dismiss the case, arguing that Makausi’s demand for civil damages in US dollars was invalid since the currency is not the official legal tender.
However, the court rejected her argument.
Represented by Samuel Banda of Advocate’s Chambers in Harare, Makausi maintained that Kikky ignored multiple requests to retract her claims, which further compounded the damage to his reputation.
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