WETANGULA ON THE SPOT

A BBC investigation has named Moses Wetangula into a
bribery scandal involving British American Tobacco (BAT).

Panorama found BAT illegally paid politicians and civil
servants in countries in East Africa. The payments were
revealed when a whistleblower shared hundreds of secret
documents.
According to documents with BBC, in July 2012, BAT
lobbyist Julie Adell-Owino requests the purchase of a
business class plane ticket to London for Kenya’s former
minister for trade, Moses Wetangula. The email says
Wetangula will be “hosted at Globe House” – BAT’s London
headquarters.
Adell-Owino’s email said the transaction should be
“paperless” and there should be “no receipts if any in his
name”.
When Panorama asked Mr Wetangula about the email, he
said he was “shocked” and “upset” and would take legal
action against anybody circulating “such a crude rumour”
against him.
He said: “I did not receive any ticket or any money… I never
had dealings with BAT.”
But BAT has described the purchase of the plane ticket a
one of a series of “unlawful bribes”.

See also: MAINSTREAM AND SOCIAL MEDIA USED AS CORRUPTION AGENTS

BBC obtained hundreds of documents that reveal how BAT
employees bribed politicians, public officials and even
people working for a rival company in Africa. BAT told the
BBC: “The truth is that we do not and will not tolerate
corruption, no matter where it takes place.”
Paul Hopkins, who worked for BAT, a British company, in
Kenya for 13 years, said he had begun paying bribes after
being told it was the cost of doing business in Africa.
“BAT is bribing people, and I’m facilitating it,” he said.
“The reality is if… they have to break the rules, they will
break the rules.”
Emails now shared by Mr Hopkins reveal BAT made illegal
payments to two members and one former member of the
World Health Organization’s (WHO) Framework Convention
on Tobacco Control (FCTC), a United Nations campaign
supported by 180 countries, aimed at reducing deaths from
tobacco