
High Court judge Justice Thompson Mabhikwa in January dismissed Moyo’s application which sought to throw away the former Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) commander’s claim on the basis that the court papers had not disclosed the alleged defamation.
The judge then gave Moyo a 10-day ultimatum to file his response to the lawsuit, but instead, he filed a Supreme Court appeal against the judge’s decision.
Yesterday, Supreme Court judges of appeal, Justices Ben Hlatshwayo, Anne-Mary Gowora and Lavender Makoni, dismissed Moyo’s appeal after his lawyer, Sympathy Mzondiwa made an application to have the matter withdrawn on the basis that the parties had agreed on the way forward.
The retired general slapped Moyo with the lawsuit soon after the latter issued a Press statement in July 2017 insinuating that the ex-military boss did not work for his doctorate degree with the University of KwaZulu Natal, but instead, someone had authored the thesis for him.
However, after receiving the summons, Moyo through his lawyers, filed an exception application saying the retired general’s declaration had not disclosed any cause of action in that the words complained of were not defamatory in any way and could, under no circumstances, be deemed to be damaging to his good name and reputation.
Justice Mabhikwa, however, said Chiwenga’s claim against Moyo was very precise, adding that in applying a number of law principles to the case at hand, it was difficult to comprehend how Chiwenga’s summons and declaration could be said to be vague and embarrassing.