The High Court has ordered the seizure of property belonging to lawyer and former opposition politician Fadzayi Mahere to settle a US$33,395 judgment debt arising from an ongoing legal battle with Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation Minister Tinoda Machakaire.
The order means that if the amount is not paid, the Sheriff of the High Court can move to seize and sell Mahere’s assets to recover the money.
However, the main defamation case between the two public figures is still ongoing.
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How the US$33,395 Debt Arose
The amount does not represent damages, but rather taxed legal costs that Mahere has been ordered to pay to Machakaire’s legal team.
In simple terms, the bill arose after Mahere filed a court application related to the dispute, which the court later dismissed.
When a party files an application that the court considers improperly prepared or procedurally defective, the judge can order that party to cover the legal costs incurred by the other side.
That is what happened in this case.
High Court judge Justice Happias Chitapi dismissed Mahere’s application in December 2025 after ruling that the matter had been improperly brought before the court.
The judge struck the application off the court roll, effectively throwing it out.
Because Machakaire had already incurred legal costs responding to the application, the court ordered Mahere to pay those expenses.
What “Taxed Costs” Mean
After a court orders one party to pay the other’s legal expenses, the exact amount must be calculated through a formal legal process known as taxation of costs.
During this process, a court official examines the lawyers’ bill and determines what fees are reasonable and payable.
Once the process was completed in the Mahere–Machakaire dispute, the total came to US$33,395.
That amount now stands as a judgment debt owed by Mahere.
If the debt remains unpaid, the Sheriff of the High Court can legally attach property belonging to Mahere to recover the money.
Background to the Machakaire-Mahere Dispute
The wider legal battle stems from a bitter public exchange on social media.
Machakaire filed a defamation lawsuit accusing Mahere of making damaging claims about him on the platform X (formerly Twitter).
Mahere, a lawyer and former Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) spokesperson, has argued that she was exercising her constitutional right to question public officials and raise matters of public interest.
Her legal team has previously indicated that they intend to vigorously defend the claims, arguing that political debate and scrutiny of public figures are protected under the constitution.
The dispute highlights the increasingly common trend of political and legal battles spilling onto social media, where accusations and counter-accusations often escalate into courtroom showdowns.
Main Case Still Pending
Despite the High Court’s order on legal costs, the core dispute between Mahere and Machakaire has not yet been resolved.
The defamation case itself is still before the courts and could ultimately determine whether any damages are awarded.
For now, the latest ruling simply deals with the costs generated by a dismissed court application.
But it also underscores a key principle in Zimbabwe’s civil litigation system: when a party files a defective or unsuccessful application that forces the other side to incur legal expenses, the court can order them to foot the bill.
And in this case, that bill has reached more than US$33,000.
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