John Chebochok threatens to sue BBC, demands Ksh.100M in damages over exposé

Newly elected Director of Toror Tea Factory, John Chebochok, has issued a demand letter to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) demanding a Ksh.100 million defamation settlement over their documentary titled ‘Sex for work: The True Cost of Our Tea.’

In the 2023 expose, Chebochok was accused of allegedly preying on female workers at a James Finlay Limited factory in Kericho in exchange for employment.

Chebochok, through his lawyer Danstan Omari, now says the allegations from the documentary were outrageous and a well-calculated scheme merely meant to defame his reputation.

He also pointed out that the claims were orchestrated by his competitors both in politics as well as the tea sector who allegedly sought to buy out Finlays from the factory.

"Politicians who are against our client’s political bid appeared to have been angered that he implemented mechanization at Finlay and as a result, some of their voters lost jobs and the said competitors fought the said process unsuccessfully," the letter read in part.

Omari also questioned why the documentary, which went viral, was aired without his client's input. Currently, the documentary has over 2.8 million views on YouTube.

Further, the lawyer pointed out that no alleged victim in the video made a complaint to the police or any investigating authority.

"The malicious broadcast of your documentary has caused our client significant emotional, psychological and unwarranted distress and stigma. Several entities have since used your documentary to recklessly tarnish our client’s name," he said.

"They intend to use the contents of the documentary to subvert the will of the people to democratically elect him from amongst a group of other contestants."

Omari hence demanded that the BBC should offer a full publication of an apology and retract the said documentary from their channel.

Further, he demanded that the media house desists from publishing any further defamatory statements or documentaries about Chebochok.

"Take notice that should you fail to make good the demands of our client within the next 3 working 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 cost," Omari added.

The letter comes amid calls by international tea suppliers for Chebochok to be removed as Toror Tea Factory director.

Both Finlays and Lipton Teas and Infusions have since ceased purchasing tea from Toror Factory and urged other stakeholders to follow suit until Chebochok is removed as director.

The Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) also appealed to stakeholders to accord them an opportunity to address the concerns raised by working with relevant authorities to resolve the issues.