Churchill Otieno led Kenya Editors Guild has been bribed to remain silent as EABL CEO Jane Karuku continue raining terror in the now collapsed githeri media.
The Kenya Editors guild has done absolutely nothing to serve its main cause. The guild’s mission is to Promote Media Freedom, Credibility and Professionalism something that Nation Media’s Churchill Otieno has failed to meet.
EABL, a publicly owned and traded company has been using its financial links with the current executive arm of government via Diageo to buy the silence of journalists and threaten media houses that don’t accept their brown envelope incentives. They have now opted to use the judiciary, which if CJ Martha Koome doesn’t stand firm as former CJ David Maraga did, is going to be crippled by the introduction of the Ombudsman.
Kenyans need to be told, why Tabitha Karanja, the Founder of Keroche breweries, her tax evasion case was being splashed on both print and mainstream media but the 2 parliamentary probes about tax evasion and unfair business that EABL is facing have never been published by the mainstream githeri media houses that fall under the umbrella of the Kenya Editors Guild.
uninspiring EABL CEO Jane Karuku
The Kenya Editors guild has never stood in support of independent journalists that have sacrificed everything they have financially to defend themselves and have professionally learned to stand on the public’s side and share the alternative truth when there is nothing else.
EABL has been facing 2 parliamentary probes that have been dragged in the National Assembly for far too long one would only assume the August house and its members have also been compromised.
The Business Daily, on 17 December 2021, exposed the rot in EABL and what the tax-evading firm was allegedly doing to bypass the law and kill all the alternative truths shared online. The BD Africa were forced and legally threatened to delete an article published under ” EABL entangled in lawyer’s bribery suit”
EABL has been using legal professionals to scare or threaten any print or mainstream media that would dare talk about the perceived buried tax evasion story. This is after an alleged bribery negotiation fails between the designated brokers.
Is KRA turning a blind eye on Diageo PLC because of the firm’s financial muscle and family-oriented businesses relations with the current executive arm in the republic of Kenya?
Lemme tell Kenyans what the Business Daily was threatened by Jane Karuku led EABL to pull down from their site and all social media handles.
A top lawyer is fighting claims that he was induced by East Africa Breweries Limited (EABL) to withdraw at the last minute from a suit where a businessman sought the jailing of the brewer’s executives over a multi-billion shilling distributorship deal. Bia Tosha has accused senior counsel Waweru Gatonye of having been influenced by EABL in 2016 to pull out from the suit five minutes before its hearing in court, causing the case to collapse and grounding its distributorship business.
The beer distributor is demanding a refund of Sh3 million as well as damages for the alleged loss. But Mr Gatonye has dismissed the allegations of a conspiracy between him and EABL to defeat the contempt of court case Bia Tosha had filed against the brewer. The firm had hired a lawyer to represent it in a contempt suit where the distributor sought the punishment of EABL executives for being in breach of a High Court order that directed the brewer to allow Bia Tosha to sell beer on 22 routes. EABL had been locked in a legal fight with its largest supplier, Bia Tosha, over the brewer’s decision to end the latter’s exclusive right to distribute beer on the routes. Bia Tosha reckons that Mr Gatonye’s reluctance to press with contempt in part led to the collapse of the distributorship business—which at its peak accounted for 12 percent of EABL sales.
“The defendant entered into a corrupt and criminal scheme with Kenya Breweries Limited in typical fashion employed by Kenya Breweries Limited in protecting its monopolistic dominance. Failure to press on with the contempt proceedings had a direct consequence upon the plaintiff’s entire business which was immediately grounded,” says Bia Tosha in court documents.
The Court of Appeal last year overturned a High Court ruling of 2016 that barred EABL from tapping other firms to serve the 22 routes and also ordered the brewer to continue working with Bia Tosha. Mr Gatonye has denied having been influenced by EABL, arguing that the claims were meant to hurt his reputation and integrity as an advocate of 45-years.
“No evidence is proffered in support of this extremely serious allegation. The standard of proof of the alleged criminal conduct on my part is beyond reasonable doubt and yet the plaintiff has not attempted to attain this high threshold,” Mr Gatonye told the court while pushing for the suit to be dismissed.
More from what the Business Daily was legally threatened to pull down while the Kenyan Editors guild was already bought to make sure no mainstream or print media shared out. Bia Tosha managing director Anne Marie Burugu claims Mr Gatonye, as the firm’s lead lawyer in the case against EABL, was given an advance payment of Sh3 million, which she wants to be refunded.
In what can only be a serious case of a criminal conspiracy to defeat and pervert the course of justice in a case against Jane Karuku led EABL in the bribery case.
”The contempt case was be heard on October 10, 2016, at 9 a.m. and Mr Gatonye allegedly informed the Bia Tosha team at 8.55 a.m. that he was pulling out from the suit and immediately left the court premises. Without the client files, legal authorities and court brief, the Plaintiff’s counsel on record was totally immobilised and disabled. Unable to prosecute the contempt application, the matter was adjourned,” Ms Burugu says in a sworn affidavit.
Where is EACC when EABL is still under investigation by two parliamentary committees for tax fraud, asset looting, and the purge of Kenyan managers?
Why is the Parliament not directing the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to conduct an investigation into the pricing agreements between the EABL and Diageo PLC?
What is the role of Diageo PLC, a global alcoholic beverage company located in London, that owns 50.03 per cent of EABL in the legal threats that are being splashed all over Kenyan Journalists?
