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Amai Mugabe

Daniel Nemukuyu Senior Court Reporter
Alpha Media Holdings, the publishers of the NewsDay, have been forced to retract a false story insinuating First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe had fired 30 workers at the family’s Kutama home after her lawyers threatened to sue them.
The retraction appeared in the newspaper’s edition of Friday on Page 2 with the editor apologising for the false statements carried in the article titled ”Grace fires 30 workers at Kutama home”.

Part of the retraction reads: “The story was based on information from a usually reliable source. While there might have been a labour incident at President Robert Mugabe’s Kutama home, some of the details furnished to us might not be quite accurate especially with regard to First Lady Grace Mugabe’s intervention.

“We sincerely regret and apologise for the embarrassment this might have caused her and the First Family.”

In a letter written by Dr Mugabe’s lawyer, Mr Farai Mutamangira of Mutamangira and Associates, the paper was challenged to prove the allegations, which later turned out to be false.

Mr Mutamangira said the article in question was a deliberate move to malign the good character of the First Lady.

“Your article sets out in its part material false and misleading allegations and claims, deliberately intended to malign the good name and reputation of Dr Grace Mugabe with respect to her domestic worker relations.

“None of the allegations, events and circumstances you relate to regarding our client’s domestic workers are real or factual,” read the letter.

Mr Mutamangira said his client never fired the workers as alleged.

“Our client denies and has no knowledge of any ‘firing of 30 domestic workers’ as you allege.

“Further, our client refutes in the strongest terms of your assertions relating to the following:
the number of domestic workers under the employ of our client.

The grievances, if any relating to the employment environment of our client’s domestic workers.

The diet relating to the feeding of the domestic workers.

the clanship or relationship between the domestic workers by blood to the First Family .

The newspaper, according to the letter, was wrong on the diet relating to the feeding of the domestic workers and the relationship between the domestic workers to the First Family.

Mr Mutamangira described the paper’s journalism as reckless and unethical. “Our client takes grave exception to the reckless and malicious disregard of ethical journalism exhibited in your article by the lack of truth, fact or verifiable sources.

“Such conduct should not go unpunished and consequently, unless the contents of your article which are the subject of this demand, are fully retracted and an apology rendered in the next issue of the NewsDay with equal prominence, legal action will be taken without further notice,” read the letter.