KEY POINTS
- Opposition leader Tundu Lissu accuses Tigo of sharing his location data with the government.
- Millicom denies allegations but admits it disciplined employees involved in data handling.
- Lissu is pursuing legal action outside Tanzania as concerns over political freedom grow.
The main opposition political party in Tanzania has called on telecoms firm Tigo to explain the alleged sale of customer data to the government to locate an opposition lawmaker.
The main opposition party has called the company to explain how it assisted the government in searching for Tundu Lissu, a lawmaker who was shot in 2017 and is reportedly still alive.
Tigo’s management has been accused of toppling the military by a former employee of Tigo’s parent company, Millicom, in a British court. It was argued that Tigo provided mobile phone data to the government, which could have led to the attack.
Call for accountability
Lissu had his car shot in September 2017 and his assailants were not arrested.
The opposition said that the government tracked the phone to the movement of Lissu before the attack. Lissu has since threatened to sue Tigo and the Tanzanian government, expressing his hatred for local courts.
According to a report by Reuters, during a press conference, Lissu said, “We will compel Tigo to tell the public who ordered to track my phone.”
Telecom firm under fire
Based on the accusations leveled against it, Millicom has said it was informed of the issues in late 2017.
The company punished those involved and changed the training program to avoid such incidents in the future. While the matter is true, Millicom denied firing Michael Clifford, the former employee, due to the issue. However, the opposition is demanding detailed clarification of the company’s involvement in sharing classified data.
Tension builds before elections
This case occurred when tensions were increasing in Tanzania, given the coming local elections. The current Tanzanian President, Samia Suluhu Hassan, has recently given assurances that the government will lift restrictions on government critics imposed by Magufuli, the former President.
However, opposition leaders contend that the harassment persists because of the local election in December. On Monday, Lissu and other political activists were arrested while demonstrating against extra-judicial killings and abductions of opposition politicians.
