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Daniel Nemukuyu Harare Bureau
The High Court has quashed a default judgment in which Central Intelligence Organisation director-general Retired Major-General Happyton Bonyongwe was awarded $10 million defamation damages against Africa Consolidated Resources boss Andrew Cranswick.

Justice Happias Zhou described the $10 million as a strange award in Zimbabwe considering that most damages awarded since the introduction of the multi-currency system ranged from $2,000 to $7,000.

Rtd Maj-Gen Bonyongwe sued Cranswick over a WikiLeaks report that linked him to diamond looting in Chiadzwa.

In 2012, High Court Judge Justice Ben Hlatshwayo granted a default judgment against Cranswick and ordered him to pay costs of the suit.

The decision was made after Cranswick’s defence papers were struck out of the record for failure to attend pre-trial conferences.

Prominent Harare lawyer Jonathan Samukange successfully challenged the default judgment on behalf of Cranswick.

Justice Happias Zhou, in a judgment delivered yesterday, set aside the default judgment and ordered the reinstatement of Cranswick’s opposing papers.

He also directed the parties to go through the normal court process starting from the pre-trial conference stage.

“Taking into account all the relevant factors, I’m convinced that good and sufficient cause has been established for this court to set aside the default judgment.

“The effect of my order is to reinstate the applicant’s defence which was struck out.

“In the result, it’s ordered that the order granted in Case Number 275/11 in default of the applicant on November 16, 2012 be and is hereby set aside.

“The applicant’s plea in case number HC275/11 be and is hereby reinstated, and the matter shall proceed to the pre-trial conference stage in terms of the rules of this court,” ruled Justice Zhou.

It was the court’s finding that the $10 million claim was too high and strange under the circumstances.

“A sum of $10 million for defamation damages is, on the face of it, out of the ordinary in this jurisdiction.

“The awards made in respect of damages for defamation since the introduction of the multi-currency system are significantly lower than that figure,” the judge said.

The report the CIO boss complained about was headlined: “Regime elites looting deadly diamond field” and it was dispatched on December 8, 2009.

According to Rtd Maj-Gen Bonyongwe’s lawyers, the report indicated that “certain high-ranking Zimbabwean government officials and well-connected elite were generating millions of dollars in personal income by engaging in illicit trade in diamonds from Chiadzwa in eastern Zimbabwe.”

Rtd Maj-Gen Bonyongwe was mentioned among other officials and officers in the Zimbabwean government.

It was Rtd Maj-Gen Bonyongwe’s contention that the report was false and he was never involved in any illegal trade of diamonds from Chiadzwa.

He felt the report that reached millions worldwide seriously defamed him and that he should be paid damages.