COMMENT: Airtel Money has in place mechanisms for addressing people’s complaints

Why Dr Spire Ssentongo is both right and wrong on Airtel Money.

COMMENT  | DAVID BIRUNGI |  We have all seen the campaign on his Twitter (X) handle. Dr Spire, an accountability crusader, uses his now huge following on social media to hold government, capitalism, and corporations to account for the public good.

In a society where accountability has reduced, voices like Dr. Spire’s should be heralded. They should also be held accountable in their quest for protection of public good and I will attempt to show why he is both right and wrong.

Everyone deserves a brother like Dr. Spire. His brother, Mr. Joseph Kayinga, who now remains the administrator of HENROB Hospital, lost his phone during the funeral of their late brother, the late Dr. Spire Kiggundu. I have seen a disturbing pattern of bereaved people being targeted and their phones stolen in the belief that they have accumulated condolence money. Some succeed in cheating other mourners, the majority fail because majority of our people are now more aware. Campaigns like Spam Alert are also helping.

Mr. Kayinga’s complaint was processed, and he was advised that ‘alleged fraud’, obtaining money by false pretenses are all criminal matters that are investigated by the police. There must be a complainant. Mr Kayinga and Dr. Ssentongo have registered their distrust of the police system and have refused to report to any police post. Airtel Money has concluded the investigation, and our position communicated to the affected customer. In there, is a big problem. We can’t distrust everything.

In Dr. Ssentongo’s campaign there is both hope, despair and criminal intent. It’s a broth. There is hope that we can still check corporate action or inaction on public good. While I will never dismiss his intentions for good governance, his methods are counterproductive. I would join him if he changed tact.

He invited whoever has had his money “stolen by airtel” to bring evidence, and they have. He has also led his followers on a wild goose chase, even though the evidence is incontrovertible, and gone ahead to condemn Airtel Money without a fair hearing.That fair hearing, which is protected by the regulatory framework at the Bank of Uganda, would establish which complaint is legitimate or not. What Dr. Ssentongo is doing doesn’t in any way meet section 22 of the National Payment Systems, Consumer Protection Regulations 2022. The section allows a customer dissatisfied with a licensee’s final say on their complaint to log a complaint with the regulator. He has not made a complaint of his own or showed which complaint remains unresolved. It has the same impact false rape claims have on genuine victims.

Established Media houses have regulations they follow or minimum standards they are expected to abide by. Even online news publishers have a framework for responsible publications. Spire is neither a media house nor a regulated news publisher. His campaign borders on criminality and should be called out for what it is: a smear campaign. We have seen young people follow such smear campaigns and, in extreme cases, end up in the dock. Why is he baiting them to commit such crimes? We may dislike the law, but it’s what we have.

What about personal data protection? Data processors like Airtel have a moral and license obligation to protect personal data as enshrined in both the National Payment Systems Consumer Protection Regulations, 2022 section, and the Personal Data Protection Act, 2019. Under section 35 of the Personal Data Protection Act, 2019, it is an offence to unlawfully disclose someone’s data. In Dr. Ssentongo baiting his followers to display their transaction and personal data, he is baiting Airtel Uganda and other data processors to fall for this lawlessness.

Airtel Money expects and has in place mechanisms for addressing people’s complaints. That mechanism is working, and its effectiveness is regularly audited by the Uganda’s regulators and our Airtel Global Compliance team that has a presence in 13 other African countries and India. We will continue to refine it to make sure it meets local contexts. For example, the Airtel Money reversal process was made stricter to protect shopkeepers who were losing money to fraudulent shoppers reversing payments for the goods they had consumed.

The digital financial sector in Uganda is one of the best and most important sectors of this economy that has extended services to millions of Ugandans. Along this journey we have made great strides, the mistakes notwithstanding. We should collectively support voices like Spire’s without opening ourselves to even more parochial interests.

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 Birungi is Head of PR and Corporate Communications at Airtel Uganda