Monday, October 08,2007
Mr. Christopher Gill
Anse Takamaka
Praslin,
Dear Sir,
I act on behalf of Mr. Joel Morgan who is a Government Minister with portfolio of Environment Natural Resources and Transport.
My client’s attention has been drawn to your article headed “The Christopher Gill Column” at page 6 Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly newspaper of the 28th September 2007 issue.
In your article column you purport to complain and express your views about the fixed penalty fine of R200 for minor or road traffic regulations after the SBC interview of my client which was broadcasted during the course of that week. However, the article turned out to be an unjustifiable, malicious, false, libellous and bitter attack against my client who was also formerly the Minister of Land Use And Habitat.
In your column you write of my client that:
“FIX PENALTIES MUST ADD UP TO $4.5 MILLION.
The answer is simple… It is about raising money. By issuing as many fix penalties as is humanly possible the Government may stand a chance of replacing $4.5 Million Minister Morgan cannot account for in SPPF Government “Koff”, which was earmarked for the Ile Perseverance Housing Project which should have been completed five (5) years ago.
The Minister was moved out of the Ministry of Planning and Land Use in order to move to Environment and Land Use to recoup some money he must account for. This is SPPF punishing their front linesmen for mis-deeds. The Minister of course gets to keep the big black leather chair twice his size which he disappear in on SBC which he may have used to negotiate the big $4.5 Million disappearing act with a construction company… After Minister Morgan is done with this job, he will be done…. It will not be long before he gets a “Restructuring Letter”.
Further in the column (Article) under the sub-heading “Control Freak attacks” you write “Without R200.00 a family can be without food for 2 days in SPPF Seychelles to please Minister Morgan and help him meet his $4.5 Million quota replacement effort” (The emphasis are mine).
The contents of your above-recited article are completely false and unfounded. The allegations you made of my client are libellous and are so serious a character that you leave him with no alternative but to institute proceedings against you.
The words contained in your article and published either in their natural and ordinary meaning; or by innuendo; and even by inference of an ordinary reasonable person who reads the whole article will mean and be understood to mean that my client:-
i) During this tenure of office as Minister of Land Use and Habitat, illegally and fraudulently negotiated and partook in the embezzlement of $4.5 Million from the “Koff” (in English translated as “coffers”) of the Government which sum was destined for the Ile Perseverance Housing Project;
ii) He has been made to account for the money that disappeared but cannot do so;
iii) As a result of the loss he has been removed from his previous portfolio to the Ministry of Environment and Land Transport;
iv) The purpose of this new appointment is to put him to task to refund $4.5 Million he cannot account for and negotiated to disappear by imposing SR200.00 road traffic penalties in order to recoup some money he must account for.
v) After he completes this process of refund from fixed penalties he will be sacked by the Government ;
vi) In his bid to recover $4.5 Million he will cause many Seychellois family to go without food for 2 days after each SR200.00 fine;
vii) He is incompetent, dishonest, a thief, a frauder, corrupt and incompassionate towards the public generally.
Mr. Gill, you know very well how popular Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly is to the populace generally. It is circulated in Mahe, Praslin and La Digue and indeed other inhabited
My client requires you:-
i) to publish in the next issue of Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly a full and complete withdrawal of the defamatory statements complained of and an apology in terms to be approved by my chambers on my client’s behalf.
ii) to give your assurance and undertaking that you will not further publish this or any similar article concerning my client or make reference to the libellous article of 28th September 2007.
iii) to pay my client the sum of Seychelles Rupees Five Hundred Thousand (SR500,000) for injury to his character, reputation and credit both as a Government Minister and personally for being brought into public scandal, odium, contempt, embarrassment and distress.
I must request you to let me have a reply by fax and confirmed by personal delivery of the same at my chambers on or before Friday 12th October 2007 which shall comprise:-
i) the text for the withdrawal of your article and the apology for my client’s consideration and approval after which you shall publish as requested;
ii) a written assurance and undertaking in the form to be approved by my client after which you shall publish in the next issue of Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly;
iii) settlement of my client’s claim for damages in the sum claimed and reasonable cost which sum you shall discuss with me prior to payment.
We trust that you will settle this claim and comply to these reasonable requests within the above time-framed and that court action will not be necessary. However in the event that you fail to comply as per terms of this letter of demand, we shall have no option but to file legal proceedings against you without further notice.
Yours faithfully
Charles Lucas
Attorney-at-Law
Editor’s note: The letter has not been complied with at the time of going to press this week.