Court slaps lawyer Kamangila

High Court Judge Howard Pemba has ruled that private practice attorney and corruption whistleblower Alexious Kamangila must pay damages to High Court Judge Kenan Manda in a defamation lawsuit that dates back to October 2024.

This decision follows an application made last Friday by Manda’s attorney, Michael Goba Chipeta, to have Kamangila’s defense dismissed.

Chipeta accused Kamangila of not adhering to the scheduling conference directives issued on March 5, 2025, which required the submission of witness statements and skeleton arguments within a 21-day timeframe.

Judge Pemba stated that Kamangila is in violation of the scheduling conference directives and has further confirmed that Manda’s application must be considered ex parte and without prior notification to the defendant.

Additionally, Pemba has mandated that the evaluation or determination of compensatory, aggravated, and exemplary damages be referred to the Registrar of the High Court and Supreme Court of Appeal for a decision on a date to be determined.

The order partially states: “The defendant is hereby permanently prohibited, whether by himself, his employees, agents, associates, legal representatives, or any individual acting under his direction or procurement, from publishing or causing to be published the same or substantially similar defamatory statements regarding the claimant.

“The defendant must, within 24 hours of receiving this order, remove, delete, take down, or ensure the removal of the offending publications mentioned in the statement of case and any materially similar publications within his custody, power, or control.”

Kamangila has since expressed his disagreement with the order.

Manda’s initial demand letter, dated October 7, 2024, requested K250 million in damages, an apology, and a cessation of “further defamatory statements or dissemination of false information” regarding the judge.