An Advertising and Public Relations Company, AP Media and PR Consultants Limited, has sued the Board Chairman of the Petroleum Importation Coordinator (PIC), Mr Shanif Hiran Mansoor and its former Chief Executive Officer Salim Bisarara, demanding over 40m/- in damages and unpaid advertising bills.

The AP Media and PR Consultants demands 29,174,684/- as amount due and payable in respect of costs it incurred for advertisement services in favour of PIC and over 15m/- as general damages arising from embarrassment and loss of good will.

The case is before the Ilala District Court in Dar es Salaam and the defendants Mansoor, who is also the Member of Parliament for Kwimba (CCM), Bisarara and the Petroleum Company have been summoned to appear and give their written defence on the claims on July 19, 2012, when the matter will be mentioned.

According to the plaint of the suit, on October 12, last year, the plaintiff, entered into a contract with the defendants for provision of advertisement and media services on announcement of bulk petroleum procurement services. It was one of the terms of the said agreement that the advertisement should be immediately done followed by effecting of payments for the work done and in compliance with the agreement, the plaintiff performed its contractual duty by advertising the procurement in various newspapers.

"Despite the fact that the plaintiff performed their contractual duty as per agreement, the defendants, for reasons best known to themselves refused and or neglected to pay the above stated sum despite the plaintiff's repeated demand to heed the same," reads part of the plaint.

The plaintiff further claims that apart from the said advertisements published in favour of the defendant, he also advertised a pre-qualification tender for procurement of Bulk Petroleum Products and one Augusta Energy (SA), won the tender for supplying of oils in Tanzania.

"No any payment was done as of today. The plaintiff entered into the said agreement with the defendants in the presence of Titus Kaguo, the Head of Communications and Public Relations Department of EWURA, who co-ordinated the said meeting," it is alleged.

The refusal by the defendants to effect the payments, the plaint further alleges, could only be explained as deliberate, malicious and fraudulent conduct calculated to disrupt the plaintiff's business and also with intent to injure his business reputation.

After all efforts to recover back the money spent by the plaintiff to have been failed, he instructed a lawyer to write to the defendants a formal demand letter, giving them 14 days to issue the payments, but they did not even bother to reply to the same. The plaintiff had no other option than to take the dispute to court for adjudication. Apart from the said payments, the plaintiff also claims interests at commercial and court rates and costs of the suit.