DORA GIVES EMOTIONAL TESTIMONY

BY OLIVER SAMBOKO DORA SILIYA yesterday emotionally testified before the Lusaka Magistrate court that her being divorced or single did not mean she was a high level prostitute as alleged by Photographer Cornelius Mulenga also known as Chellah Tukuta. This is in a matter in which Tukuta, 34, is charged with criminal libel after he published defamatory matter affecting Ms Siliya in the form of a video on Facebook alleging that Ms Siliya was a pimp and hooks up girls for high profile people like ministers and permanent secretaries.  “I don’t sell human beings, I don’t engage in sexual activities for cash. I am a human being, I am not infallible and what I have done is the best I can. Yes, I maybe single, I may have failed relationships, I maybe divorced but that does not make me a high level prostitute,” an emotional Siliya told Magistrate Mwale. Ms Siliya said Tukuta alleged in the video that she was a high level prostitute and asked the people who were watching the video to publish it to the whole world. Ms Silya who is chief Government spokesperson and Information and Broadcasting services minister, denied the allegations by Tukuta that she was selling young girls for sex.  She further denied  being  engaged in the business of selling human beings as alleged.  She said she decided to report Tukuta to police because his allegations against her were injurious and damaged her good reputation. Ms Siliya said after the video in which Tukuta is alleged to have uttered the injurious words, went viral, she received several phone calls from her colleagues, including Infrastructure Minister Vincent Mwale and former State House aide Kaizer Zulu alerting her about it.   She also testified that she  received a WhatsApp message from United States Embassy charge de affairs David Young who described the video by Tukuta as misogynistic and disgraceful. Ms Siliya said after watching the video, she felt angry, embarrassed because the comment by Tukuta not only injured her but also government and also the people of Zambia who elected the government she was working for.