The Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) has formed a nine-member committee to investigate and gather information on alleged malpractices by telecommunications companies operating in South Sudan.
This comes after a motion was presented by Juol Nhomngek, an SPLM-IO legislator representing Lakes State’s Cueibet County, over allegations of malpractices by MTN South Sudan and their negative socio-economic implications on the welfare of the general public.
The Tuesday motion indicated that individuals working with MTN South Sudan and ZTE Corporation, a technology firm partially owned by the Chinese government, have been illegally collecting USD 50,000 and demanding 10 percent of every purchase order from subcontractors who are forced to the inducements before being awarded contracts.
“Subcontractors who are overcharged as a result of alleged acts of brazen malpractices are forced to increase charges on their services that the public has to pay for them to cover the extra money paid as a result of the malpractices,” Nhomngek said.
According to the lawmaker, the malpractices have affected communications costs.
“Internal transfers of money by small businesses and private individuals for consumption have a negative socio-economic impact on the beneficiaries of the transfers,” he added.
Furthermore, Nhomngek said overcharging of communication services has affected the socio-economic welfare of the South Sudanese citizens and the general public.
“Finally, heavy charges that are attracted as a result of using the internet and other communication services offered by MTN South Sudan affected general public awareness and education that further perpetuate the public access to correct information,” the legislator charged.
The motion was warmly commended by most parliamentarians prompting the House to form a nine-member committee to gather more evidence not only from MTN but other telecommunication companies such as Zain and Digital.
Agasio Akol Arop, an SPLM member representing Warrap State, said South Sudan is losing a lot of money to telecommunication companies but it is not reflected in the government treasury.
“Our citizens are losing a lot of money and we are also losing taxes and the companies are not paying taxes to the government,” Akol said, adding that the motion is important because it will let the government know how much money is being collected from citizens.
Meanwhile, MP Bol Joseph Agao said the revenue generated by the three telecom companies is enough to pay civil servants if they pay taxes to the government. He alleged that the money collected from the three firms ended up in the Ministry of Information.
Agao also demanded that parliament summon Information Minister Michael Makuei to answer questions relating to the charges by the telecom companies.
On July 23, Radio Tamazuj published an investigation story detailing how two senior employees at MTN and ZTE Corporation South Sudan were extorting kickbacks from subcontractors by threatening to deny them lucrative projects.
The story exposed how a ZTE manager and his MTN counterpart were captured demanding US$50,000 and 10 percent of every Purchase Order (PO) as preconditions for the award of business to a subcontractor.
Following the story, MTN South Sudan, the largest telecommunications company in the country, fired one of its senior employees for a “breach of anti-corruption policy” on 24 July. Multiple sources confirmed to this publication at the time that the senior officer was dismissed for a “brazen act of corruption, which amounted to gross misconduct because of the blatant violation of the MTN Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption Policy.
However, other sources told Radio Tamazuj that ZTE Corporation, which is also subject to the MTN Anti-bribery and Anti-Corruption Policy, as a technology partner, was yet to take disciplinary action against its suspected employee.
According to sources, ZTE Corporation has subsequently come under great pressure from MTN to keep the culpable manager off MTN projects, as they continue investigating the matter.
One of the principles of MTN’s anti-bribery and anti-corruption policy is that employees or associated parties will not seek or accept bribes, kickbacks, or any improper payments.
According to the policy, non-compliance and/or involvement in bribery or corruption will result in disciplinary action that may lead to dismissal from employment and could result in criminal proceedings and/or civil action.