The Ugandan government has controversially renewed a $61 million (Ushs 231 billion) contract with Global Voices Group (GVG) to continue running the Telecommunication Intelligent Monitoring System (TIMS), despite substantial evidence indicating the system’s failure to detect telecom fraud or revenue under-declarations.
Reports from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) reveal that since its procurement in 2016, the TIMS system has fallen short of its contractual commitments to accurately monitor telecom traffic and combat fraud. Despite this, the government proceeded to renew the contract in April 2023 for another five years at the same amount.
TIMS was initially brought in to monitor traffic trends from major telecom firms, including MTN Uganda, AIRTEL Uganda, AFRICELL Uganda, SMART Telecom, SIMBANET Telecom, UTL, SMILE Telecom, and LYCA Mobile. The contract with GVG Holdings, owned by former Haitian Prime Minister Laurent Salvador Lamothe—currently barred from the U.S. for significant corruption—was secured with the assistance of retired U.S. General Wesley Clarke.
President Museveni established the DRI to analyze revenue trends and address tax suppression by telecom operators. The DRI was mandated to use TIMS alongside the Data Monitoring System (DMS) to track telecom traffic and mobile money. However, the TIMS system failed to perform its core function of identifying fraud or revenue under-declarations.
In a 2022 meeting with GVG and a State House Committee, GVG admitted the anti-fraud system was non-functional and promised to purchase a new system, which has yet to be implemented. Despite recommendations from the DRI for an independent audit of GVG’s performance, the contract was renewed without addressing the system’s failures.
GVG has faced similar controversies in countries such as Haiti and Tanzania, often leading to litigation and significant revenue losses due to unfulfilled contractual promises. The late Tanzanian President Magufuli even dissolved the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority board over similar issues with GVG.
The renewal of GVG’s contract without rectifying its significant flaws raises serious concerns about the oversight and accountability of telecom revenue monitoring in Uganda.
