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Uganda on Tuesday accused the country's largest telecommunications operator, MTN Uganda, of under-reporting sales and causing public revenue losses, which has worsened relations with South African society.
Uganda deported Wim Vanhelleputte, chief executive of MTN in Uganda last week, the fourth MTN official to be deported from East Africa in less than a month for allegedly compromising security national.
The company is a unit of the South African telecommunications giant MTN Group, which has also had problems in Nigeria, where the central bank accused it last year of repatriating $ 8 billion without the necessary paperwork. The line was then resolved after the company paid a chip settlement.
MTN Uganda has more than 10 million subscribers and is mainly competing with the local Bharti Airtel unit in India.
The relationship between the government and the company was severely tested over the past year by a series of setbacks, including a security operation in the company's data center, the late renewal of its operating license and the expulsion of its leaders.
The company has also been under political pressure to have its shares listed on the local stock exchange in order to facilitate the company's national ownership and secure more of the money it earns in the country.
Government spokesman Ofwono Opondo said MTN's control came after the government acquired the ability to monitor telecom companies' transactions for tax compliance and reporting purposes.
"It is because of this technical capacity that MTN and its managers have had problems," he said.
"It has been found that, in some cases, they have not made full statements of transactions that harm the economy of Uganda."
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has repeatedly accused the country's telecom companies of cheating the tax by under-reporting the volume of their calls and sales data, but has not named any business.
MTN Uganda spokeswoman Justina Ntabgoba said the government had not received any details on the alleged under-reporting of transactions.
"We have not received any official communication, so we have no answer. As soon as we receive an official communication, we can respond, "she said.
Opondo also accused the expelled MTN executives of compromising Ugandan national security by "providing direct access to unauthorized persons for any reason. That's what these MTN officials did, opening up the Ugandan data system to other unauthorized people. "
He said the reasons were probably espionage or economic sabotage and that motivation was still under investigation.
Ntabgoba, of MTN, declined to comment on the charges, saying only that the government had not informed the company of why the leaders had been deported.
MTN has been present in Uganda since 1998, when it obtained a 20-year license, which expired last October.
In 2017, she began a process to obtain a 10-year extension, but that dragged on because of disagreements over the amount of taxes to be paid for the extension and other issues.
Business in Uganda contributes about 4% of MTN Group's earnings before interest, amortization and amortization.
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