Tigo denies involvement after allegations of passing Lissu’s phone data to government

Dar es Salaam. The owner of mobile phone operator Tigo in Tanzania has denied involvement in the assassination attempt of Chadema vice chairman Tundu Lissu, saying it did not own the telecommunications firm at the time of the incident.

Mr Lissu was shot 16 times at his parliamentary residence in Dodoma on September 7, 2017 by unidentified gunmen.

On Tuesday, British newspaper The Guardian reported that an internal investigator from Tigo's then-owners Millicom had testified in court that the firm was handing over Mr Lissu's mobile phone data to the government in the weeks leading up to the attack.

Honora Tanzania Public Limited Company which owns Tigo since 2022, said in a statement on Thursday, September 26, 2024, that it acknowledges the media reports but maintained that it was not the owner by then.

“The current parent company of Tigo was not its owner at the time the reported incident took place,” the statement reads.

Tigo said could not comment on the specifics of the ongoing case, as it is not party to the litigation.

“We want to reassure our customers and stakeholders that safeguarding their personal data in compliance with the laws and regulations of the United Republic of Tanzania remains our top priority,” the company stated.

According to a report by The Guardian, the investigator, former policeman Michael Clifford, is challenging his 2019 dismissal by Millicom at a London tribunal, arguing he was sacked for raising concerns about the affair.

Such revelations have also prompted Mr Lissu to consider suing both the mobile phone company and the government of Tanzania for the assassination attempt.

"This news is very significant for us. We are getting the chance to know those involved in the attempt to kill me," Mr Lissu told reporters.

"I have told my lawyers to go ahead to sue both Tigo and the government of Tanzania," he said, adding that though he could not say when the case would be filed, he intended to take the case to the international courts.

"We will now force Tigo in court to release Michael Clifford's investigation report regarding surveillance on me," Lissu said.

Earlier this year, Tanzanian journalist Erick Kabendera filed a $10 million lawsuit against Vodacom, alleging that the company provided data to authorities that facilitated his 2019 arrest. The case was dismissed due to being filed outside the legal timeframe.