Anthony Katamba writes to KCCA over “unlawful” dismissal by MTN

Former General Manager for legal and corporate services at MTN Uganda, Anthony Katamba has taken to Kampala Capital City Authority's labour office over the manner in which he was dismissed from the telecom company.

Katamba didn’t survive the winds that blew at Hannington Road in Kampala and saw  four other staff members including their CEO, Wim Vanhelleputte, Elsa Mussolini, the mobile money general manager, Olivier Prentout, the Chief Marketing Officer and Anne Tabura, the General Manager in charge of Sales and Distribution deported over  what was termed as being a threat to security.

Through his lawyers of Katende, Ssempebwa and Company Advocates, Katamba says despite being a faithful and high performing employee at the telecom giants for 20 years, he was unceremoniously sacked by the company under unclear circumstances.

“Our client was unceremoniously issued with a letter by the then CEO of MTN, dated February 12,2019 purporting to terminate his employment but actually dismissing him with no legal basis or otherwise in total disregard of all the procedural and substantive rights that our client is entitled to under the laws of Uganda,”Katamba’s lawyers say.

The lawyers say despite Katamba’s resistance by writing back to the MTN board of directors against the dismissal, nothing was done to this date.

Demands

In his letter to KCCA, Katamba demands a number of things to be done by the telecom company including payment of unpaid salary and bonuses for work done as the General Manager Enterprise Business Unit and payment of all NSSF and MTN provident fund dues there under.

Katamba also demands that the company pays the unpaid bonuses for 2018 for his role as the General Manager Corporate Services and all his entitlements under the MTN provident fund plus sums wrongfully deducted from him for a vehicle he had already paid for  in full.

“Our client is demanding special, general and punitive damages for wrongful and unfair dismissal in clear breach of our client’s substantive and procedural rights for tarnishing our client’s name across the entire East African region making it virtually impossible for him to get gainful alternative  employment,”Katamba’s lawyers say in their letter to KCCA’s labor office.

The lawyers also want a personal loan that  Katamba had acquired from Stanbic bank paid by MTN because they unfairly and unlawfully dismissed him and he was unable to service it despite attracting a certain interest.