South African-backed MTN Uganda and its senior officials face a tax evasion lawsuit, brought by a former employee charged with stealing from the company. The Daily Monitor cites the CEO of the cellco Mazen Mroue as saying: ‘In mid-September, MTN Uganda discovered suspicious supply chain payments made to several service providers. The MTN Group forensic team and Uganda police were engaged to investigate the suspicious transactions. This resulted in the charging of two staff members implicated in the investigation.’
Naphtal Were, one of the former employees involved accused of stealing an estimated USD4.1 million from the operator, has accused MTN’s bosses of evading payment of UGX70 billion (USD26.68 million) in taxes. Mroue dismissed Were’s allegations as ‘vague and baseless.’ Were’s lawyers have called for Ugandan authorities to issue arrest warrants for twelve MTN officials – mainly based in South Africa, rather than Uganda – for failing to attend pre-trial proceedings.