The year 2019 has not started quite well for MTN Uganda. With only one and a half months into the year, the company has seen a big chunk of its top executives facing the iron hand of the State, in circumstances that still leave questions to answer.
While majority of the news has made headlines this recent, the battles date back from June 2018, or even much before. We take a look at how the events have been unfolding at the yellow brand, in the midst of arrests, detains, and deportations.
June 2018:
Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) issued an investigation to ascertain why MTN Uganda had failed to optimally address customers’ complaints. This followed complaints about the telco skyrocketing in the #MTNUgandaMweddeko hashtag.
The hashtag was created by Dr. Busingye Kabumba, a Lawayer and Lecturer at Makerere University. This was after he was asked for a court order for MTN Uganda to retrieve money he had sent to a wrong recipient.
July 2018:
Police raided one of MTN data centers over allegations of breach of national security. This saw several network engineers arrested to facilitate police investigations.
According to MTN, the incident posed a serious security risk to its Telecommunication Infrastructure and customer data, adding that its servers were disconnected on the orders of these officers allegedly working for ISO severely impacted a number of services.
January 15 2019:
Details emerged that MTN Uganda’s license renewal was in uncertainty over the fees to be paid. It happens to be that during the renewal process, UCC discounted the license renewal fees for MTN from $100 million originally proposed to $58 million.
This is what could have prompted President Museveni to write to the commission, inquiring “why they reduced the fees to a far less than the originally proposed amount”.
January 19 2019:
The MTN Uganda Chief Marketing Officer, Olivier Prentout, was arrested by police at Entebbe airport upon arrival from a business trip abroad. He was deported to France in s few hours.
January 21 2019:
MTN Uganda Head of Sales and Distribution, Annie Bilenge Tabura, was arrested by unidentified security personnel upon arrival at the MTN headquarter offices, in Kololo, Kampala. She was detained for close to an entire day before being sent home to Rwanda.
January 22 2019:
MTN Uganda’s General Manager Mobile Financial Services, Ms Elsa Musolini was also summoned by police’s special investigations division on allegations of inciting violence contrary to laws that govern this country. She was detained for a few hours and eventually deported to Italy.
January 23-25 2019:
Other MTN Uganda top executives are called on by the Police force to make statements in regards to the MTN Uganda saga. These included Mr. Anthony Katamba – the then General Manager of Corporate Affairs, MTN CEO Mr. Wim Van Halleputte, and the Chairman of MTN Uganda, Charles Mbire.
February 14 2019:
MTN Uganda’s CEO, Wim Van Halleputte is deported to Belgium on “similar circumstances of national security”.
