Swissport: Our staff didn’t leak army photos

Dar es Salaam. Swissport Tanzania Plc yesterday refuted claims that some of its workers photographed and posted onto the social media imported military equipment.

The pictures of a military helicopter and other equipment at Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA) went viral on the social media from early this month.

The company’s CEO Gaudence Temu said that he was also involved in the investigation to find the culprits involved in the allegations.

“In the investigation it was discovered that our staff were not involved but officials from another company which I cannot disclose for ethical reasons have been arrested,” he said.

He said that the company policy does not allow its staff to go with mobile phones to the loading and off loading of cargo due to ethical reasons.

Expounding, he said that unless the cargo is damaged then for evidence purposes it might be photographed using proper cameras which the Swissport staff understand that they are only for official use.

Tanzania Peoples Defence Forces (TPDF) has threatened to take legal action against Swissport officials over the allegations.

According to TPDF spokesperson Col. Ngemela Lubinga the equipment arrived on a KLM flight on December 3 at 7.15pm.

He said, taking the pictures and circulating them on social media was a violation of the National Defence and Security Acts and the army would take legal action against them to serve as a lesson to others.

He said that importing such equipment had not started recently as it was speculated in the social media, but was part of a 15-year development plan which started six years ago in a bid to strengthen the army.