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The Nairobian

BBC denies defaming Wetang'ula in BAT bribery allegations

Counties

By Kamau Muthoni | Mar 24, 2016

The British Broadcasting Corporation has denied tarnishing Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang'ula's name.

The media said it had given the senator a chance to say his part of the story before it aired an expose that linked the senator to the British American Tobacco (BAT) bribery allegations.

In its response filed before the High Court judge Roselyn Aburili, BBC through its lawyers said it had given Mr Wetang'ula a fair chance to rebut the claims before the programme dubbed 'Panorama' went on air.

According to BBC, the senator was allegedly given a chance to tell his side of the story on September 6 last year on the sidelines of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy leaders meeting at the Great Rift Valley Lodge in Naivasha.

The programme's producer Richard Cookson in his court papers said the idea was fronted to him in May last year from a whistle blower Paul Hopkins, a former BAT employee in Kenya, and that he went through the documents to verify if the content was factual.

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"We gave the plaintiff the opportunity to respond to the allegations in person. The plaintiff had the opportunity to provide me with a further explanation in writing, but did not take the opportunity," Mr Cookson stated in his reply.

Cookson told the court that Wetang'ula's denial did not lead him to believe that the alleged emails with a BAT official on his name were forged.

"Although the plaintiff was clear in his denials, he gave me no credible motive why anyone would have forged his email, or why Mr Hopkins and employee 'B' would have invented the story about him," said Cookson in his court papers.

The broadcaster also stated that it ran the expose on account of public interest and not for commercial purposes.