(MISA/IFEX) – The “Botswana Gazette” newspaper has been sued for damages amounting to 10,000,000 Pula (approx. US$200,000) for publishing a 2 July 2003 story entitled, “Protect citizen contractors against Chinese”. The article quoted Mogolori Modisi, vice-president of the Botswana Confederation of Commerce, Industry and Manpower (BOCCIM), addressing an annual general meeting in which he allegedly […]
(MISA/IFEX) – The “Botswana Gazette” newspaper has been sued for damages amounting to 10,000,000 Pula (approx. US$200,000) for publishing a 2 July 2003 story entitled, “Protect citizen contractors against Chinese”.
The article quoted Mogolori Modisi, vice-president of the Botswana Confederation of Commerce, Industry and Manpower (BOCCIM), addressing an annual general meeting in which he allegedly cited problems faced by citizen-owned construction companies when bidding for government contracts.
Modisi reportedly attributed the problem to competition between local and Chinese companies, saying that the Chinese companies were not subject to market forces because they received financial support from their government. The statements he made about what he termed “unfair competition” have now become the basis for a claim for damages against the newspaper. Modisi is also alleged to have accused the Botswana government of supporting corruption by continually awarding contracts to Chinese construction companies, even though most of them had been found guilty of bribery.
On 16 July, Armstrongs Attorneys Notaries and Conveyancers, acting on behalf of ten Chinese construction companies, sent a letter to “Botswana Gazette” in which they said, “the article is defamatory and derogatory to all Chinese construction companies operating in Botswana.” The letter stated that the article was intended to defame and injure “the good name and reputation” of the Chinese companies. The amount of 10,000,000 Pula was to be paid within ten days and a summons would be issued if the newspaper failed to make the payment in the allotted time. The letter also stated that, to mitigate the damages, there should be an immediate and unconditional retraction of the article and an apology should be published in a form satisfactory to the company’s clients.
“Botswana Gazette” managing director Clara Olsen has maintained that the article was not defamatory as most of the statements were of a general nature and of public interest. In the week following the publication of the article, “Botswana Gazette” published a full rebuttal from the vice-chairman of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Ben Liu.
In a letter to MISA’s Botswana chapter (MISA-Botswana), Olsen said the newspaper gave equal attention to both sides, for the sake of balance and to ensure right of reply to the Chinese companies. “In our view, this indicates a desire on our part to be fair, even-handed and impartial. We believe therefore that we have done all that is necessary to report in a fair, balanced and impartial manner,” she added.
The Chinese Chamber of Commerce has demanded that another local newspaper, “The Mmegi”, print a retraction after having published a similar report.
