Mobile money agents sentenced over client personal data breach

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The court has ordered three mobile money agents to pay a fine of sh120,000 each or, in default, serve three months in prison for unlawfully obtaining and disclosing a client’s personal data.

The convicts are Peter Mawande, 25; Lydia Kanyesigye, 34 and Hussein Sadam, 20, all agents of Easy Pesa, an online moneylending company. They are residents of Kitintale and Bugolobi in Kampala and Nansana in Wakiso district.

The court heard that the trio and others still at large, in July 2025 in Kampala, unlawfully obtained and disclosed personal data of Max Ntambazi from his national identity card without lawful authority.

Makindye chief magistrate Asuman Muhumuza on May 5, 2025, sentenced the trio after it entered a plea bargain agreement with the prosecution. 

“You are convicted on your plea of guilty,” Muhumuza ruled.

A plea bargain is a negotiated arrangement in criminal proceedings where an accused person agrees to plead guilty to the charge in exchange for concessions from the prosecution, such as reduced charges or a lighter sentence.

The accused pleaded guilty to unlawful obtaining and disclosure of personal data, contrary to section 35 of the Data Protection and Privacy Act, 2019, and Regulation 34 of the Data Protection and Privacy Regulations.

They also admitted failing to register with the Personal Data Office, contrary to section 29(3) of the same law.

Uganda’s Data Protection and Privacy Act, 2019 regulates the collection and processing of personal information. However, cases of data breaches persist, largely attributed to rapid digitalisation, weak enforcement and low public awareness.

A recent report by Unwanted Witness, a civil society organisation advocating for digital rights, indicates that Uganda still lags in personal data protection.

The survey, conducted between January and September 2023 across Uganda, Mauritius, Kenya and Zimbabwe, assessed 48 companies in sectors including telecommunications, e-commerce, financial services, e-government, digital lending and online betting.