Our attention has been drawn to a choreographed smear campaign being sponsored by a supposed credible news online portal; The Zambia Watchdog which remains faceless.
Their most recent article is a totally baseless and false story tagged: “Sahara Energy appoints Richard Sakala as spin doc, hosts Zambian journalists” – which was published on the site on July 12, 2017 (https://www.zambiawatchdog.com/sahara-energy- appoints-richard-sakala-as-spin-doc-hosts-zambian-journalists/).
We here by state the following for the records;
We state categorically that; The Sahara Group has at no time appointed Richard Sakala or any other individual/organization in Zambia or in any other jurisdictions to execute any media projects or other media relations activities on its behalf.
The claim in the article that $2 million was paid for the alleged engagement is utterly false, baseless and at variance with Sahara’s unwavering commitment to business integrity.
Sahara Group has a robust corporate communications department that interacts with its various stakeholders as is standard practice for leading conglomerates across the globe.
As part of our commitment to transparency, Sahara Group routinely invites and also takes up requests from reporters from the print, electronic and digital media to tour its facilities and operations across the globe. These tours provide an opportunity for the media to have first-hand experience of the Sahara Brand and to obtain first-hand information on the Group’s activities. This is a standard media relations practice across the globe, especially for leading conglomerates like Sahara whose operations cover diverse cultures and markets.
Sahara has in the past had interactions with news organizations from countries in which we operate, including but not limited to Nigeria, Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire, Zambia, Cameroon, United States of America, Tanzania, South Africa, South Korea and the United Kingdom.
Some of these media organizations have included, but not limited to: The Economist, Bloomberg, Reuters, Financial Times, Cable Network News (CNN), the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Forbes Africa, CNBC Africa, Joy FM Ghana, Daily Graphic Ghana, The Guardian Tanzania, Business Times Zambia, Channels TV, Nigerian Television Authority, TVC Africa, Guardian, ThisDay, Punch and News Agency of Nigeria, among other media organizations in our locations.
Sahara has severally reiterated its commitment to zero tolerance for political donations – a position that is backed by a policy that guides every member of staff. Please click here to see our previous response on the issue.
It is important to add that in recognition of Sahara’s commitment to spearheading good governance towards rebuilding trust and integrity in business in Africa, one of its Directors, Mr. Tonye Cole recently became a member of the World Economic Forum’s “Future of Trust and Integrity Project”. Sahara is also a member of the WEF’s Partnership Against Corruption Initiative (PACI).
As a leading African energy and infrastructure conglomerate, we remain committed to collaborating with stakeholders across the globe in the quest for promoting business integrity, transparency, and sustainable development.
