The troubles running after MTN Uganda are so far from over. The latest gathering dust about town is that the company’s CEO, Wim Van Helleputte, has been deported back to Belgium.
MTN Uganda has confirmed the news, stating that they have “not been notified of the grounds for the deportation and is working hard to establish precise reasons for the deportation”.
We are understandably concerned about these developments and are engaging with the authorities to seek understanding that would lead us to resolving this matter.
The telco has now appointed Mr. Gordian Kyomukama, the current Chief Technology Officer, to act as the Chief Executive.
To ensure business continuity, we have appointed Mr. Gordian Kyomukama, currently Chief Technology Officer, as Acting Chief Executive. Our focus continues to be on delivering the best quality products and services to our customers. @MTNGroup
— MTN Uganda (@mtnug) February 15, 2019
Deported!
In a letter signed by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Gen. Jeje Odongo, Mr. Wim has been declared to be “an undesirable immigrant by virtual of section 52(g) of the Uganda Citizenships and Immigration Control Act” adding that he is now a prohibited immigrant.
The section deems any immigrant to be prohibited upon being declared by the Minister or the commissioner as undesirable based on “information received from the government of any state or any source considered reliable”.
Police spokesperson Fred Enanga on Thursday night stated that the reason for Mr. Wim’s deportation is in relation to the saga that has been haunting MTN Uganda’s top staff of late. These “similar circumstances of national security” have been a serious bug keeping the telco in news headlines over the past couple of weeks.
It’s now 4 executives deported
Just a while back, we told you about the deportation of three executives – Olivier Prentout, the then Chief Marketing Officer, Annie Bilenge Tabula, the then head of Sales and Distribution, and Elsa Mussolini,the then General Manager in charge of Mobile Financial Services.
The trio were separately arrested, detained and deported by Uganda Police between 19th and 23rd of January to France, Rwanda, and Italy respectively. The only detail given for their expulsion was that their presence was a risk to national security.
The weeks that followed were covered with finger pointing,blame games, and ‘negotiations’ in what seemed to be a revival for the MTN brand. But the saga seems deeper than we thought, and is not about to end.
It’s not yet over
President Museveni has been noted to question MTN Uganda’s profit repatriation, which he says is limiting the development of the country. To this, he adds the under declaration of their returns to the revenue authorities which pose a big hindrance to the economy.
I also warned against telecoms underdeclaring calls and cheating our government of revenue. We have bought machines to track these calls but it is still important that the companies do not engage in this vice.
The most recent of the exits before the CEO’s deportation was that of the General Manager, Corporate Services, Anthony Katamba. It is unclear why he was laid off work but reports point at an internal rift with Mr. Wim.
Who’s next?
While it has been easy for the government to arrest and deport the foreigners that head MTN Uganda, it is even much easier to arrest and charge the nationals in the top executive. The next few days or weeks will prove this.
This is a developing story.
