Euro Gold Refinery, a company licensed to engage in mineral refining, processing, and trade, has through its lawyers Candia Advocates and Legal Consultants sued Monitor Publications, NTV Uganda, Andrew Kyamagero, and Busein Samilu for declarations that the defendants published false, malicious, and defamatory news that negatively impacted its business.
Euro Gold Refinery is seeking orders compelling the media houses to remove defamatorycontent from their YouTube and other social media channels, retracting the malicious andmisleading broadcasts that have continued to affect its reputation and goodwill.
The plaintiff is also seeking compensation for pecuniary loss and damages, permanent injunction, and costs of the suit.
The case arose from an investigative piece published by the defendant media houses, which Euro Gold Refinery claims contained malicious, misleading, and inaccurate information published between 2nd to 4th October 2024 on air, online and through their official social media channels.
According to Euro Gold Refinery, the defendant media houses on Wednesday 2nd October 2024 published an article in Daily Monitor Publications Ltd titled “How Investor Lost Shs 5 billion in Gold Scam” , which was also published online in Monitor Publications’ website.
The article which appeared on page 4 of the Daily Monitor titled ‘Not all that glitters is gold’ tells of a German national, Christian Arndt who lost colossal amounts of money in a fake gold deal.
NTV Uganda also ran a series of investigative documentaries titled “German National in Tears After Being Fleeced” in which snapshots of the publication were captured for three consecutive primetime broadcasts.
Through their lawyers M/s Candia Advocates and Legal Consultants, Euro Gold claims the news portrayed them as perpetrators, or major participants and accomplices of the heinous crime of fraudulent gold dealings, in which it is alleged the Plaintiff exorbitantly charged smelting fees, fraudulently worked with the lawyer Mr. Peters K. Musoke, engaged in underhand practices like smuggling, using fake documentation from URA, and operating outside lawful channels among others. They further claim that the publications were intended to misinform and link them to the army, fraudsters, and to portray them as an unstable, unlicensed, or unregistered business in Uganda.
Euro Gold Refinery claims that the unfortunate publication damaged its reputation, giving it negative reviews online. The management of Euro Gold Refinery claims they have
experienced cancellation of contracts valued in millions of dollars. They have also shared how their banker, Stanbic Bank Uganda Limited, closed their accounts fearing association with a fraudulent client, a move that has negatively affected their business relationships and image.
The gold trade in Uganda has in the recent past been marred by illegalities, fraud, tax evasions, among others. In Uganda and the world over, it is known as a highly risky business requiring colossal amounts of money to transact. Dealers in gold have been linked to incidents of defrauding genuine investors, diplomats, and ordinary citizens in the past.
The reorganization of the industry by the Ministry of Finance through the Bank of Uganda and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development are in high gear.
As an industry player, Mr. Ben Feni the Managing Director of Euro Gold Refinery noted that they have done a lot to create awareness about the gold business in Uganda through pursuing openness, advocating for transparency to make the gold business more profitable.
“We have used various social media platforms like X, Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, TikTok among others to consistently provide clear communication channels to protect all our clients. We have provided working telephones, website, and clear location of our offices” he added.
According to Mr. Ben of Euro Gold Refinery, the malicious media coverage by NTV Uganda and Monitor Publications dented the goodwill they have worked hard to build for the years of the existence of Euro Gold Refinery. ‘More than ten of our partners, stakeholders and customers lost their comfort and cancelled transactions in that time’ , Mr. Ben Said.
‘The sad issue’ , Mr. Ben said, ‘is that the YouTube broadcasts and social media platforms continue spreading the negative news worldwide, tainting our business effort and prospects with customers. This waters down the efforts we genuinely put in developing the mineral industry in Uganda’
‘The negative publicity of the industry in Uganda negatively impacts on genuine investors we have been working with under the close watch of government regulatory bodies and mineral police to ensure safety for all players in the industry’ says Mr. Ben.
‘Euro Gold Refinery is one of the reputable mineral refining companies that has operated in Uganda deliberately building credibility and adding value to minerals and people’s lives’ says the Operations Manager Mr. Sam Anecho. ‘Euro Gold Refinery is licensed by the government of Uganda to deal in refining minerals, and we are closely monitored to ensure we operate within the law. The refinery partners with foreign investors and account holders, who through the trust and commitment of Euro Gold Refinery have through the years bought and processed gold. Tainting the image of our company not only affects us but the image of the whole country as a destination which cannot be safe for business’ Anecho said.
‘What is even more annoying is that they never contacted us for our views but concocted stories that we are based in Bugolobi, that we use the military to guard our offices, making our offices inaccessible after committing fraudulent crimes which is all a lie,’ said Sam.
‘Although our lawyers notified the defendants of our intentions to sue last year, the defendants have not heeded to the demands’, Mr. Sam added.
According to Mr. Emmanuel Candia the lawyer of Euro Gold Refinery in the case, many people and social media users continue to use and abuse their platforms by maliciously spreading defamatory information about individuals or entities without taking responsibility for it.
Private individuals and corporations suffer bad publicity on social media and mainstream media without finding proper remedies for such actions either, because they do not know how to pursue their rights or find it expensive. He added that, ‘unlike live broadcasts, social media channels like YouTube continue to grow viewership past the time of the live broadcasts’’
‘It my hope that this case will set a clear record that a name, be it business or personal, is all a person has and those that make it their business to taint others should face the law’ , Candia said.
According to Euro Gold Refinery defendants have been served with the court papers and have been given 15 days to file their defence.
Cases of defamation against individuals in the press have been handled by courts of law over time, but there are limited examples of defamatory cases against businesses in Uganda. If handled successfully, this will be one of the cases that will set the bar for protecting the business name and image in Uganda. The connection between the use of social media in live news broadcasts will also become known when the case is disposed of.
The case seeks well over one million dollars in damages and costs for the claims the case wants to settle.