MTN Service CentreA stranger to me illegally used my NIN (National Identification Number) which appears on my National Identity Card, to register a strange mobile phone number on the MTN network. I only found out because I was a victim of fraud. So, I asked MTN to disassociate my NIN from the suspect phone number. I thought it was easy. To my consternation, MTN stalled. At their outlet in Ntinda, they claimed the NIN does not exist on their network despite incontrovertible evidence to the contrary. At their service centre in Lugogo, MTN said I need a court order to have my own NIN deleted from their system. At their headquarters, MTN told me they could not act because the person responsible was on “leave”. Even in much smaller operations, work doesn’t stop because someone is on leave. I called the suspect number and the person who answered claimed he was a bedridden old man who didn’t know how my NIN came to be associated with his phone number. The number, 077-2487371, is registered under the name of a one Sulaiman Lwanga. My lawyers have since written to MTN. The company didn’t even bother to respond. It is now more than a month. Obviously, MTN is (wrongly) hoping I will simply get weary and give up. Previously, a conman sent a text message (it wasn’t me) to a relative over MTN lying that she should send them money. I went to file the incident at MTN’s so-called security office. They didn’t even bother to record it. Instead, they sent me to the Central Police Station, who told me a very long story of how the government doesn’t give them enough money, before asking me for a bribe to “investigate”. I refused. I am not that stupid to throw good money after bad money. I let the incident slide but not this time. The default position of MTN is “get a court order.” At one time, I bought data from official MTN sources. It mysteriously disappeared in an instant. I complained to MTN at their service centre in Lugogo. They refused to pay back, insisting that I must have used up the data. I demanded to view the access logs. They said that to view the logs, I must furnish them with a court order first. A court order to view my own access logs? In the end, MTN paid back. I gave them no court order. I am in the privileged category of having access to various resources. Imagine how MTN treats less fortunate Ugandans. MTN has a notorious reputation of promoting criminality, as long as it is making money. I have come across people using unregistered numbers on the MTN network. I know people, obviously through shady means, who get detailed call logs of their spouses, without their knowledge let alone permission, from MTN. They say it is easy. Someone once said that if something happens once, it is an incident, if it happens twice, it is a coincident but if it happens thrice, it is a tendency. fkirungi@gmail.com The writer is a former journalist who lives in Kampala.The post Does MTN promote crime? appeared first on The Observer.