Following the bizarre arrest and imprisonment of Vodacom’s Tanzanian CEO MD Hisham Hendi last week, SA’s cellphone companies are quietly worried that governments outside their home base are abruptly changing investment terms and imposing dubious fines in a desperate attempt to supplement government income.
The circumstances in which Vodacom’s Tanzanian MD and eight other industry figures were arrested are still vague, but they have been effectively charged with economic sabotage, a crime so serious that no bail is available. Yet, the actual loss claimed by prosecutors is a relatively modest R68-million.
Vodacom has responded coolly to the arrest, saying the Tanzanian subsidiary “will continue to co-operate with the investigation and that it upholds the highest standards of business integrity, ethics and good corporate governance”. However, the company has been forced to appoint an emergency acting MD in Jacques Marais.
Those arrested include the head of revenue, Joseph Nderitu, the head of Vodacom Tanzania’s legal service Olaf Mumburi, the head of sales Joseph Muhere and finance manager Ibrahim Bonzo. Others arrested include Le Van Dai, the managing director of Halotel Tanzania, owned by Vietnam-based telecoms operator Viettel, and Sherif El Barbary, managing director of Zantel. All but one of the arrested are foreign nationals; Dai is a Vietnamese citizen, while Barbary is Egyptian.
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