Landlady sues tenant over witchcraft accusation

Mary Phiri writes A woman of Mushili Township in Ndola has dragged her former tenant and current tenant to court for accusing her of practicing witchcraft. The landlady feels that her character has been defamed. Maureen Lungu 48, sued Chisha Chungu 21 and Mercy Bulambo 26 for compensation for defamation of character. Lungu said Chungu decided to leave the house after she increased rentals and went to rent somewhere else within the neighbourhood. She said after she shifted, Chungu started telling people that she was a witch and every pregnant woman that stayed at her house would losing  their child. Lungu told the court that she confronted Chungu about the lies on a number of times, but she did not stop spreading malicious reports. She added that Chungu went and told lies the new tenant who was pregnant that she could lose the child because the landlady was a witch. “My former tenant Chungu and new tenant Bulambo got close and started to say bad things about me, so I decided to sue both of them,” she said. In defence, Chungu said she never accused her former landlady of being a witch, but merely went to ask the new tenant how much she was being charged in rentals. But the second defendant, Bulambo, told the court that indeed Chunguapproached her and accused the landlady of being a witch. She said Chungu told her that the landlady eats people’s babies adding that since she was pregnant she got scared. It was at this point that Bulambo decided to approach her landlady and told her that if anything bad would happened to her child she would be responsible. “Your honour I have nothing to hide here it was the first accused who told me about the landlady and I have only stayed three weeks at the house and she told me everything” Bulambo said. Presiding magistrate Evelyn Nalwizya sitting with Mildred Namwizyeordered Chungu to pay K500 in monthly instalments K100. The Sun