MTN Uganda has issued a statement regarding the arrests and deportation of its two staff, even as it reiterates the firm “remains fully committed to operating within and respecting the laws of the country”.
On Monday morning 21 January 2019, the MTN Uganda head of sales and distribution Annie Bilenge Tabura, a Rwandese, was arrested by unidentified security personnel upon arrival at the MTN headquarter offices in Kololo, Kampala, says the firm.
Earlier on Saturday 19 January 2019, the MTN Uganda chief marketing officer, Olivier Prentout, a French national, was arrested at Entebbe Airport upon arrival from a business trip abroad.
“Both Mr Prentout and Mrs Bilenge have been deported from Uganda to their home countries, France and Rwanda respectively,” said the firm’s management in the statement.
According to Uganda’s Daily Monitor, the deputy police spokesperson Ms Polly Namaye says the two have been in security agencies’ radar over their engagements in acts which compromise national security.
“We want to commend the Directorate of Immigration and Citizenship control for strengthening the screening procedures at all border points. We strongly believe that the deportation of the two foreigners, who were using their employment as tools to achieve their ill motives, has enabled us disrupt their intended plans of compromising our national security,” she was quoted.
The new developments come at a time when the firm’s second interim licence expired on Sunday, January 20, 2019.
Last week, President Kaguta Museveni protested at the minimal charges exerted to the firm for its license.
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