Africell sued over termination of contracts

COURT | AFRICELL | EMPLOYEES 

KAMPALA - Fifteen former employees of Africell Uganda Limited have dragged the telecom company to court over unlawful termination of their contracts.

The group, led by Teddy Kisekka, filed the suit against Africell at the Civil Division of the High Court in Kampala on Tuesday.

They want an order directing Africell to deposit in court sh1b, claiming it is sufficient to satisfy the decree that may be passed against it or guarantee to secure their appearance at any time when called upon, pending determination of the suit.

In the alternative, they want Africell to place at the disposal of court properties such as a mobile switching centre, one home subscriber server, nine base station controllers for 2G sites and four radio network controllers for 3G sites.

According to court documents, the applicants have been employed by the respondent in various capacities for varying periods ranging between 10-15 years under its various guises as HITS Telecom Uganda Limited, Orange Uganda Limited and Africell Uganda Limited.

They say on September 10, 2021, they were served with letters dated September 9, 2021, in which they were informed that the respondent was permanently ending operations in Uganda effective October 7, 2021, and that their employment with it was slated to come to an end on November 30.

“Aggrieved by the termination, the applicants filed a suit against Africell Uganda, seeking orders for declaration of redundancy pay, breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing, unfair termination, retirement benefits, damages and the cost of the suit,” court documents stated.

Court documents indicate that Africell is in the final stages of closing its business operations in Uganda and exiting the jurisdiction of Ugandan courts.

Kisekka said with the intent to abstract or delay the execution of a decree which may be passed against Africell in the main suit, the respondent had embarked on clandestinely disposing of all its known assets and properties in Uganda.

In his affidavit, Kisekka said Africell has resorted to secretive methods of disposing of their assets as opposed to public invitations and advertising in order to defeat claimants and potential legal proceedings.

Background 

Last month, Africell announced that it will wind up its operations in Uganda effective October  7, 2021. This, they said, is premised on a detailed assessment that was conducted over the past several months on the future of the telecom company in Uganda.

“Africell strives to be a  leader not only in terms of mobile services but also in community impact and the digitally-led transformation of society.  In Uganda, a country with a mature and competitive telecoms sector, we believe that the opportunity to achieve this impact is increasingly limited.

“We have, therefore, taken the difficult decision to permanently end Africell operations in  Uganda,” management stated.

They explained that the decision to wind up was made in the long-term interests of the Ugandan telecoms sector.

Aware that their decision will render employees jobless, the telecom company pledged not to only treat them with respect, but also offer them support to find new professional opportunities.

“In addition to a full salary, and benefits during your notice period, Africell will offer you severance pay, payment of unused annual leave allowance, repatriation pay (where applicable) and training and support from a dedicated on-site professional,”  management told its employees.

Africell also pledged to support its current customers switch to other operators.

Africell launched its commercial operations in Uganda in November 2014, having completed the acquisition of Orange Uganda earlier in the year.

In 2014, the network subscribers in Uganda were estimated at one million. As of September 2018, its subscriber customer numbers had risen to 2.1 million.

In April 2020, the company’s website gave the number of subscribers over 3,000,000.

With the exit of Africell,  Uganda now has a few telecom companies including MTN, Airtel, Uganda Telecom, Roke Telecom, Smile telecom, Lycamobile and K2 telecom.