The BBC journalist involved in compiling the infamous corruption scandal at British American Tobacco (BAT) which adversely mentioned Bungoma Senator Moses Watengula has released evidence in court to prove the authenticity of his documentary.
Mr Wetangula, who was cited as one of the African politicians bribed by the tobacco company, was greatly angered by the allegations broadcasted on BBC‘s Panorama Programme hence sued the international broadcaster for defamation.
In court, investigative journalist Richard Cookson stated that he made every effort to verify the information relayed to him by whistle-blower Paul Hopkins, who uncovered the questionable dealings at BAT.
Mr Cookson dismissed Wetangula’s claims that BBC aired false statements highlighting that he used experts to certify Hopkin’s allegations.
“I took various steps to verify the integrity and authenticity of the paper and electronic documents…these steps included checking the metadata of emails using the “get info” function on an Apple laptop to check that it matched the sender, receiver and date of creation data that appeared in the bodies of the emails themselves.
“Arranging for an independent forensic scientist with expertise in audio analysis and who is regularly used as an expert witness in criminal cases in the United Kingdom to examine clips from recorded conversations that Mr Hopkins provided for evidence of tampering,”.
The reporter added that he conducted an interview with Wetangula, the then Foreign Affairs Minister, during which he denied any connection to the scandal.
Mr Cookson said that he included Wetangula’s side of the story in the documentary and even his colleague’s, Richard Bilton, left his contacts with him but the Bungoma Senator or his lawyers never contacted him to object the investigative piece.
Last year, Wetangula was mentioned as one of the politicians and civil servants in different African countries who were allegedly bribed by BAT in order to defy the set anti-smoking laws.
According to the exposé, BAT bought business class return tickets for Wetangula’s wife to London as a form of bribe.
Following the explosive details that caught the attention of international media, the CORD co-principal denied the allegations and moved to court to block BBC from further broadcasting documentary, stating that the international media house had defamed him.
High Court judge went ahead to bar BBC from airing the piece until the case was heard.