Telecom giant MTN has confirmed that the two foreigners deported by Immigration authorities were indeed their staff. Uganda police force deputy spokesperson Polly Namaye issued a statement this morning, indicating that two telecom employees had been deported for threatening the country’s national security.
A few hours later, MTN management issued a press statement, confirming that the company’s Uganda Chief Marketing Officer, Olivier Prentout was arrested on Saturday, 19 January 2019 by police at Entebbe airport upon arrival from a business trip abroad.
Also, on the morning of Monday 21 January 2019, the 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.
“Both Mr. Prentout and Mrs. Bilenge have been deported from Uganda to their home countries, France and Rwanda respectively. MTN Uganda, together with all its employees, remains fully committed to operating within and respecting the laws of the country” the statement reads.
In July 2018 combined military force of Internal Security Organisation (ISO), Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) and Police raided MTN Uganda’s data Centre. They searched servers and copied all the files during the raid.
It remains unclear, if the two cases are related.
