Telecel on Jane Mutasa’s accusations: We do buy Zimbabwe wherever possible

If you’ve been following the usual non-technology issues that dog Telecel Zimbabwe, you will remember that some two weeks ago, the suspended Telecel acting chairperson, Jane Mutasa, accused the mobile operator of ‘unprocedurally’ awarding tenders to foreign companies at the expense of equally capable local businesses. The tenders, according to Mutasa, are mostly awarded to companies in Ireland, Mauritius, South Africa, Dubai and Egypt.

Mutasa also accused Telecel of breaching the country’s laws by continuing to consult exiled businessman, James Makamba, on key decisions affecting the local operations. The accusations were made before the Media and Communication Parliamentary Portfolio Committee which is looking into Telecel operations.

Today, Telecel Zimbabwe has sent out a release in response to Jane Mutasa’s accusations. Here’s the full text of the release:

Telecel has handled all procurement tenders transparently, Telecel Zimbabwe’s board of directors has said. It said that, while some equipment had to be sourced externally, Telecel uses local companies wherever possible.

Responding to allegations suspended board member Jane Mutasa is reported to have made before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Media and Communication, a statement issued by the board and published in a local newspaper today (Wednesday), said much of the equipment needed for Telecel’s core network, billing, radio and transmission network was unavailable locally. This applied to 2G and 3G services.

However, it reiterated the testimony given to the same committee by the company’s managing director, Mr Aimable Mpore, that Telecel uses local companies as much as possible, after taking quality standards into account.

The board statement said that much of the equipment that had to be imported was sourced from Chinese companies. The major suppliers had been Huawei, ZTE, Converse and Nokia-Siemens Networks (NSN).

Eight of the 14 contractors hired by Telecel last year to provide towers, masts and related civil works were local companies.

Because of the capacity problems of local companies and because a fast roll out was needed, most of the towers were imported from South Africa.

Most, if not all, of the suppliers that have been providing services such as BTS installations, transmission installations, power installations and site acquisitions were local. Four out of the main six vendors providing power back-up equipment were local, it said.

The statement said only three of the company’s seven senior managers were foreigners. All but one of these were African. All of the 18 other mangers were Zimbabweans. The foreign managers were all on fixed term contracts. They were being understudied by Zimbabweans, who were expected to take over from them when their contracts expired.

Over the last two years, the number of Zimbabweans employed at Telecel had almost doubled from 150 to nearly 300.

The statement pointed out that the chairman of Telecel Zimbabwe is Mr James Makamba, whose company, Kestrel Corporation, is, as Mrs Mutasa acknowledged in her evidence to the parliamentary committee, a major shareholder in the Empowerment Corporation, the local shareholder in Telecel Zimbabwe.

It said Mrs Mutasa was acting chairperson until March 19 lat year, when she was suspended from the board pending finalisation of a fraud case reported to the police by Telecel in which she was implicated.

Contrary to Mrs Mutasa’s reported allegation that Mr Makamba was a specified person, the specification order imposed on him had been lifted on May 27 last year by the joint Ministers of Home Affairs, the statement said.

The statement also pointed out that the shift in the ownership structure of Telecel Zimbabwe from 40 percent ownership by Telecel International and 60 percent by the Empowerment Corporation to the current shareholding, where Telecel International holds 60 percent of the shares and the Empowerment Corporation 40 percent, was approved by both the then Minister of Information, Posts and Telecommunications and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

It said Telecel International and the Empowerment Corporation are the only shareholders in Telecel Zimbabwe.

“The majority shareholder is currently in dialogue with government on the best way to reduce its shareholding to 49 percent in conformity with Zimbabwean law,” the statement said.