State lines up key witness against former MTN workers

Mr David Walabyeki is the boss of a clearing and forwarding firm that provided services to the telecom firm for eight years.

The State has lined up the managing director of a clearing and forwarding firm as a witness in a case where former MTN workers are charged with fraud.

Mr David Walabyeki, the managing director of Eagle Logistics, a company that provided services to the telecom firm between April 2004 and June 2012, will now testify against his former accomplices; John Paul Basabose, the former MTN’s accountant, and former logistics officer Naftal Were.

The duo and others are facing charges of alleged fraud and embezzlement of $ 3.8 million (about Shs9.7 billion) between 2009 and 2012 before the Anti-Corruption Court.

However, the court has since stayed the proceedings in the charges against the accused persons pending an interpretation before the Constitutional Court.

A source at court privy to the case but declined to be mentioned because he is not authorised yesterday intimated that the state did not charge Mr Walabyeki, jointly with Mr Were and Mr Basabose in order to help them prove prosecution case during trial.

Documents obtained by this newspaper indicate that Mr Walabyeki recorded a statement with the police on October 5, 2012 at the MTN head office in which he allegedly confessed having connived with the two to defraud the telecom firm.

“…My point of contact with MTN (U) was Naftal Were, and he was the one who initiated this whole proposal. He told me that there is possibility of being paid for work already done. That what I could only do was to prepare an invoice and they would handle it internally at MTN (U),” reads part of Mr Walabyeki’s statement, adding that Shs199,350,182 was dispatched to his account. “In agreement, ...they would take 70 per cent and my company takes 30 per cent.”

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