Through his lawyers, Kampala Associated Advocates (KAA), MTN Uganda
chairman Charles Mbire has refuted reports that on Friday he was interrogated by the Police on issues related to his company’s reported involvement in activities of espionage on Uganda. The lawyers have said that the claims of Mbiire’s questioning which were yesterday published in Saturday Vision are simply “fake news” that was conjured up “in bad faith”.
“Mr Mbire has not been quizzed by security agencies as has been reported by Saturday Vision dated February 16, 2019… as a law abiding citizen he is always available to help security agencies keep peace and security in our motherland,” the statement from KAA law firm, released on Friday evening, reads in part.
“We would like to categorically state that the allegations in the article are false and baseless in their entirety. Our client has not been called in to the Criminal Investigations Department or Internal Security Organisation (ISO) or any other authority at all.”
Several top-level expatriate managers of MTN have over the last few months been arrested and deported to their respective countries over matters that the Ugandan government says concern national security.
The latest is the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Wim Vanhelleputte.
In the Saturday Vision story, it was alleged that Mr Mbire was quizzed over alleged espionage by the company staff on Friday, a day after CEO Wim Vahelleputte was deported. Mr Vanhelleputte was deported on Thursday evening by police authorities, who didn’t give details but said that investigations were still continuing.
