Shocking details have emerged showing how aides in Gen Kale Kayihura’s office (much dreaded Nixon Agasirwe, Jonathan Baroza & others) came to be very close to high profile officials at MTN Uganda including General Manager Anthony Katamba. Some few years ago, MTN suffered a very damaging law suit that was filed by prominent city lawyer Fred Muwema who wanted some of its top executives to be criminally prosecuted for tax evasion-related offences. Along the way the DPP department, which over the years had cultivated a very warm professional relationship with then IGP Kayihura, took up the private prosecution case from Muwema insisting that the Constitution after all mandates them to. Muwema, renowned for being keen on public interest litigation, grumblingly let go but kept protesting that the DPP hadn’t acted in good faith-but just to deliberately kill off his otherwise very good case against telecom giant MTN. As MTN head legal, Katamba as usual contracted KAA law firm whose Joseph Matsiko and Peter Kabatsi, a renowned excellent criminal lawyer, hail from Kisoro just like Kayihura. They became MTN’s defense lawyers and, being big names in the legal fraternity, they easily overwhelmed the DPP prosecution team. The prosecution case somehow lost steam prompting the DPP head to discontinue the criminal proceedings against MTN. But later on, after Muwema and his clients made lots of noise corroborated by some patriots at URA, it was decided that the CIID re-investigates the matter to get for DPP more evidence that could be used against MTN. URA too insisted there was evidence and faulted staff in DPP’s office for irresponsible conduct. A team of finest brains at CID was put in place to re-do the investigations and assemble new criminal evidence against MTN officials to enable the DPP re-instate the prosecution and it was led by a one Kototo, who is one of the big name CID operatives at Kibuli. Another very vigilant team member was a junior CID operative called Onyang. The team embarked on the job with enthusiasm only to be frustrated by the impunity of some of the MTN bosses. Having dug up some information which URA sources confirmed as authentic, the team members drove to MTN Towers.
What let them down though was the decision by MTN executives to treat them very contemptuously whereby they permitted them access to their respective offices but refused to answer questions that were being put to them. The CID operatives plotted to arrest the MTN bosses and herd them to Kibuli and thereby turn the whole thing into a scandal and PR disaster for MTN. One of the MTN bosses, sources say, rang Jonathan Baroza right away and being the PA, Baroza put them in touch with the IGP Gen Kale Kayihura who asked the Kibuli CID guys to back off and that was the end of the matter. Muwema became furious on seeing the telecom giant once again getting away with it without any scrutiny. This strong relationship between MTN bosses and the Kayihura era police clearly corroborates our previous stories (see Why 2017/18 has been worst year for MTN 2nd July & Report shows how MTN workers stole MPs’ 400m as Katamba is fired 25th June) which highlighted the torture some MTN employees endured under the supervision of Nixon Agasirwe after being hired by MTN bosses. This torture was presented to court during the criminal trial of Richard Mwami & other MTN employees who the company unsuccessfully accused of committing mobile money fraud. Our story also referred to Asna Club in Kololo where Kayihura aides and assistants used to be met, facilitated and instructed on who to torture next. We also referred to complimentary laptops and I-phones that the police torture masters were given in reward for a job well done. Much of these torture allegations were also well authenticated by Justice Christopher Madrama in his comprehensive judgment on the Richard Mwami case. This new information pointing at existence of strong curious relationship between Gen Kayihura and some MTN officials is coming to the fore only days after ISO operatives raided MTN data centers in Mutundwe and Kololo and forcefully carried away what investigators consider to be criminally very important information required to corroborate the case they are building ahead of Gen Kayihura’s much anticipated court appearance top formally be charged. In a two page statement, Ag MTN CEO Anthony Katamba vehemently protested the raid and didn’t rule out the possibility of strong consequences befalling those that orchestrated the same.
