The newly elected director of Tegat tea factory, John Chebochok now wants BBC World Service Group to pay him Sh100 million as compensation for alleged defamation against him.
The director also issued a 72- hour ultimatum to the broadcasting to offer an apology and retract the documentary titled Sex for Work: the true cost of our tea which aired on February 17, 2023 without his input.
Through his advocate Danstan Omari, Chebochok wants BBC to “cease and desist from publishing any further defamatory episodes/documentaries or statement about him.
Chebochok said he will move to court and institute legal proceedings if BBC fails to fulfill the demand.
“Should you fail to make good the demands of our client within the next three days, we have instructions to seek other legal remedies to protect the image of our client, including but not limited to instituting a suit against you at your own cost,” read the demand letter.
He said following the dissemination of false and misleading information in the documentary aired, it has affected his relationship with some of his staff, the community where he lives, and is likely to result in social and professional ostracism.
He said the broadcast of the documentary has caused him significant emotional, psychological and unwarranted distress and stigma.
“The dissemination of false and misleading information about our client was fashioned to damage his credibility and bring forth a negative public perception of our client,” says Omari in the letter.
Omari said the allegations in the letter dated January 25, 2023 from BBC to Chebochok, where he is wrongly referred to as ‘Mr John Chebochik’ were “wild and outrageous as no such complainants had been received by him nor his upline manager at Finlays company where he was working as a contractor through his company Sislo Holdings Limited at the time.
Chebochok accused his political competitors, work related competitors and people who wanted to then buy out Finlays of orchestrating to throw his reputation into a pit out of serious and unproven allegations.
“Politicians who are against our client’s political bid, appeared to have been angered that he implemented mechanization at Finlays and as a result, some of their votes lost jobs and the said competitors fought the said process unsuccessfully, ” says Omari.
He said there is connivance from big companies who do not wish to see him provide the “much needed modern skills to farmers in this country”.
He accused the companies of curtailing his sources of livelihood, skills which took time in conjunction with other resources to achieve.
Furthermore, he said, none of the alleged victims mentioned and concealed in the BBC broadcast including those who called him ‘predator’ and a ‘sex pest’ have made any complaint to the police or any other investigating authority.
“Our client has never been charged in any court of law nor before any competent judicial institution concerning the allegations in your documentary,” added Omari.
“You used your channel to single handedly condemn our client unheard and subsequently, violating his constitutional rights to privacy, assumption of innocence among other protected rights. You exposed him to unmitigated ridicule from the public.”
Chebochok said in the letter he has worked at Finlay for about 28 years, starting as an Assistant Manager and advancing to Senior Manager, earning various awards along the way.
In 2017, he resigned to run for Member of Parliament for Kipkelion Constituency but lost.
Six months later, Finlay recalled him to operationalize mechanization, giving him a two-year contract, which was renewed for an additional three years due to their confidence in his abilities.
“This depicts a blemish-less period of service and therefore you letter dated January 25, 2023 came as a surprise,” read the demand letter.
He has further distanced himself from company refers to as ‘Solis’.
Finlays and Lipton Teas has however called for removal Chebochok as the director of Tegat Tea Factory following the accusations of sexual exploitation of women in the BBC News investigative expose.
Tegat Tea owns Toror Tea Factory and both firms are part of the 54 tea companies that own Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA).
Lipton Teas has stopped buying tea from the Tegat/Toror factories and has called for other processors to follow suit.
Finlays on the other hand has threatened to cease buying the leaves from Toror Tea Factory if the accused remains a director.
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