MTN Board rallies around embattled Group CEO, Ralph Mupita

MTN Group said its board is closing an investigation into its CEO, Ralph Mupita, following an investigation that found no evidence of improper conduct.

The pan-African telecommunications provider, which is headquartered in Johannesburg, said in a statement to shareholders on Friday that the board has “expressed its full support” for Mupita and for MTN’s strategy.

The statement comes six days after the media reports that an unspecified number of executives had threatened to resign after complaining that Mupita allegedly gave preferential treatment to a female executive.

Techfocus24 learnt from reliable sources that, the female staff in question is Yolanda Cuba, who was once CEO of Vodafone Ghana (now Telecel Ghana), but joined MTN immediately after leaving Vodafone.

MTN shareholders are advised that the group board held a special meeting on Wednesday, 4 September to deliberate on a report by an independent law firm, assisted by counsel, tasked to verify allegations contained in an anonymous complaint against members of the MTN executive,” it said in a statement issued via the JSE.

“The independent report stated that attempts to engage with the complainant were unsuccessful and found that there was no evidence of improper conduct by those cited in the complaint,” it said, without naming anyone.

“In its deliberations, the board accepted the report finding and is of the view that the matter has been addressed and is now closed.”

Bloomberg News reported on Thursday that nine out of 15 MTN’s executives had signed a memorandum backing Mupita, citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the situation.

Mupita earlier this week sent a letter to staff assuring them that MTN has governance processes in place to address employee matters, including those concerning senior leadership. He sounded very confident that the process will vindicate him, and it has.

Source:techfocus24.com