Norton Member of Parliament Mr Temba Mliswa has disowned a Twitter account using his name and challenged his Chivi South counterpart Cde Killer Zivhu to prove that he indeed authored defamatory statements against him.

Cde Zivhu is suing Mliswa at the High Court for $1 million over alleged defamation of character emanating from tweets which he attributed to the Norton legislator.

In his request for further particulars to the case, Mr Mliswa — through his lawyers Kadzere, Hungwe and Mandevere — challenged Cde Zivhu to prove that he indeed owned the Twitter handle Hon. Temba P Mliswa.

“To enable the defendant to plead to the plaintiff’s summons and declaration, the following further particulars are requested: how is it being alleged that it is the defendant who actually wrote the said tweets?

“How is it being alleged that the Twitter account Hon Temba P Mliswa belongs to the defendant? Is there any proof that shows that it is the defendant who authored such tweets?

“We request that we be furnished with MAC address that identifies the actual device that was used to send the said tweets.

“We request that we be furnished with an IP address which identifies the location and the Internet that was used. Is there any confirmation from service provider that indeed the account belongs to the defendant? How is the defendant responsible for the articles he did not author?”

In his plaintiff’s declaration, Cde Zivhu indicated that the Twitter handle belonged to Mliswa and that he was using the same handle to update his constituency and other stakeholders about his programmes.

Cde Zivhu said Mliswa used the same twitter account to allege that he had corruptly acquired land in Norton’s Galloway area.

“Print outs of the mentioned tweets and published articles are hereby attached as annexures,” he said.

“Moreover, several articles have been published on several news websites including Zimeye, The Sunday Mail and TheZimbabwe.co, who all quoted the defendant as the source.”

-State Media