Philisiwe Gugulethu Sibiya, MTN Cameroon CEO
– MTN Cameroon has refuted reports that the National Anti-Corruption watchdog, CONAC made public on January 20, indicting the company, alongside three other network service providers in the country, of malpractices which have caused government losses worth circa 170billion FCFA.
In a release which MTN Cameroon Chief Executive Officer, CEO, Philisiwe Sibiya signed yesterday, the company denies any wrong doing and reassures its stakeholders that it “is not and has never been implicated in corruption-related actions in the exercise of its activities. MTN Cameroon therefore affirms that its interactions with the government of Cameroon and its representatives have always been transparent, and in conformity with the laws of the Republic of Cameroon.”
Presenting the report of their findings at a meeting with telephone operators at a ceremony at Hilton Hotel on Tuesday, CONAC chairman, Rev. Dieudonne Massi Gams said their findings indicated that MTN Cameroon owes the state the sum of 236,502,684 FCFA as unpaid taxes from computer games; 51,579,572,852 FCFA as unpaid contribution to ART; 24,220,274,800 FCFA as unpaid fines to the Telecommunications Regulatory Board, TRB, for MTN’s violation of rules governing operational agreement with the government of Cameroon; bringing the total to 76,036,350,336 FCFA.
However, MTN Cameroon CEO in her release states that the company is a responsible investor and is up to date with regard to its fiscal obligations to the relevant authorities in Cameroon in accordance with all applicable rules and regulations.
“Our company is one of the two biggest contributors to the state in terms of taxes and customs duties. Our corporate citizenship and responsible attitude have, on several occasions, earned public recognition, notably from the Cameroon Customs.”, Sibiya stated.
The company equally “avails itself to the Government to clarify, if need be, any points highlighted in the CONAC report.”
The CONAC chairman had on January 20, signed a press statement, noting that the mobile telephone companies currently doing business in Cameroon that was indicted in its report, had agreed to pay all what they owe the government and to henceforth abide by all the rules governing their operational agreements.
The phone networks shady deals were blown, thanks to an investigation of the activities of mobile phone companies operating in the country. The CONAC control team was led by Garga Haman Adji, a member of the coordination committee of the institution.
The now disputed report said three network service providers owe government and her affiliated institutions the sum of 170, 548, 801, 873.49 FCFA in unpaid taxes and other charges. The fourth telephone company, CONAC said, is still operating in outright illegality.
Orange Cameroun, the report says, owes the government 473,005,368 FCFA as taxes on computer games; 47, 556,076,222 FCFA as unpaid contributions to the Telecommunication Regulatory Agency, ART; and 28,339,783,500 FCFA as fines owed the Telecommunications Regulatory Board, TRB, for violating the rules governing the agreement they signed before they were allowed to operate in Cameroon. This brings the amount of indebtedness by Orange Cameroun to a total sum of 76,368,865,090 FCFA.
CONAC said both Orange Cameroun and MTN Cameroon did not furnish the investigators with any information relating to charges for fiscal stamps they were supposed to buy for their bill boards and other advertisements while the investigators recorded zero in the column for taxes and other contributions due the state.
Cameroon Telecommunications Corporation, CAMTEL, the report indicated, owes 78,834,228 FCFA as taxes on computer games; 98,149,715.49 FCFA as advertisement taxes or fiscal stamp charges for advertisements; 17,966,602,504 FCFA for taxes and other contributions bringing their total indebtedness to 18,143,586,447.49 FCFA.
CAMTEL too is said to have failed to cooperate with the investigators with figures relating to their contributions to ART while zero was recorded for them under charges for violating rules of operational agreement.
Nexttel, for its part, was indicted for operating in illegality. CONAC based its argument on the premise that the fast-growing telephone company was registered as VIETTEL Cameroun but now operating under the name Nexttel.
All the indicted telephone companies were present at Tuesday’s CONAC-report presentation ceremony but for Orange Cameroun which boycotted the meeting.
The management of MTN Cameroon for its part, says it still awaits a copy of the complete report.
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