BAT calls whistleblower a ‘rogue’ ex-staff

Corporate News

Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula: Denied corruption claims against him. PHOTO | FILE 

By VICTOR JUMA, vjuma@ke.nationmedia.com

In Summary

• Mr Paul Hopkins leaked hundreds of secret documents to a BBC editorial team implicating BAT in bribery of government officials in Kenya and other African countries.
• The bribes were allegedly meant to further the multinational’s goal of dominating its rivals and defeating anti-smoking laws.

Cigarette manufacturer British American Tobacco (BAT) has described its former employee who blew the whistle on bribery at the company as a “rogue” individual who has an axe to grind with the firm.

Mr Paul Hopkins, who worked for BAT Kenya for 13 years, leaked hundreds of secret documents to a BBC editorial team implicating the multinational in bribery of government officials in Kenya and other African countries.

The payments were allegedly meant to further the multinational’s goal of dominating its rivals and defeating anti-smoking laws, Mr Hopkins said.

BAT has hit back at the whistleblower even as it hired a media law firm, Harbottle & Lewis, to “deal with the matter”.

“We are disappointed that the BBC has broadcast historic allegations from 2012 made by rogue former employees whose employment was terminated in acrimonious circumstances and who have a clear vendetta against us,” BAT said in a statement.

It added that any company can fall victim to an employee acting inappropriately. The cigarette maker, however promised to take disciplinary action, including dismissal, against staff whose guilt is established.

Ms Julie Adell-Owino, whom the BBC said organised the illicit payments in her previous role as BAT Kenya’s lobbyist, has also criticised the BBC expose terming it inaccurate.

READ: BAT bribery scam forces out senior EABL executive

She said the BBC has linked her to the scam based on what she termed as fake e-mails.

The broadcast network said Ms Adell-Owino used a pseudonym (Amanda) and non-BAT email address to coordinate the payments of the bribes with other employees of the multinational.

“Anybody can fabricate a pseudo-email address and create correspondence from it to frame the narrative they are seeking to present,” Ms Adell-Owino said in a statement.

“Therefore, I have no reason to believe that there is authentic, verifiable evidence to substantiate the allegations that the BBC has made against me.”

Ms Adell-Owino on Tuesday resigned as the corporate relations director of East African Breweries Limited saying she needed time to clear her name.

The BBC said she organised payments of bribes to, among others, Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula who was at the time (2012) the minister for Trade