The Government Chief Whip, Thomas Tayebwa has issued a notice of intention to sue the Monitor Publication Limited in respect to a story ran on Sunday Monitor entitled “Nabbanja, Tayebwa fill offices with relatives”.
Tayebwa through his lawyers of Ortus Advocates noted that the story that was ran on the front-page was full of shocking, reckless and defamatory statements and contained libel.
Tayebwa’s lawyers said that their client is frankly dismayed by the dept and outright lies that were published with the aim of tarnishing his name and misleading the public as to his integrity.
“The story is full of false, defamatory, destructive and replete with downright fabrications which you fully know to be untrue, thereby exposing you to liability for damages. For example, you claim that Moses Muruhura, Annah Atuheire and Henry Muheebwa are relatives of Hon. Tayebwa which is patently false,” the lawyers noted in a letter.
The lawyers noted that their client is not in any way involved in the recruitment and appointment of staff in Parliament which is by law the preserve of the Parliamentary Commission to which he is not a member.
They have accused the reporter of the story for biased, showing a pre-determined mind, devoid of, unwilling or unable to interrogate facts and write a balanced story.
“We accordingly demand that you immediately cease any further false publication against Hon. Tayebwa, remove the statements from all your platforms, publicly apologize and confirm you will not in future publish such statements again. For avoidance of doubt, the apology must be clear, succinct and approved by us and with the same prominence as the defamatory story,” the lawyers demanded.
They added that failure to do so with 7 days will leave Hon. Tayebwa with no option but to pursue all available actions and remedies against the publication.