Vodacom hit with $1 million demand notice for allegedly facilitating Kabendera’s abduction

Dar es Salaam. Journalist Erick Kabendera has raised serious allegations against the mobile communication service company, Vodacom, accusing it of facilitating his abduction by the police and subsequently facing charges of economic sabotage in 2019.

In light of these claims, Mr Kabendera, who engaged in investigative journalism through his lawyer Peter Madeleka, has written a letter demanding the company pay $1 million (over Sh2.5 billion) in compensation.

"Our client suffered economically, socially, and emotionally; therefore, he demands the payment of $1 million immediately," reads the letter, seen by The Citizen.

The letter dated April 25, 2024, indicates that the demanded payment aims to serve as compensation for various losses and damages incurred by Mr Kabendera.

They include economic loss, non-economic damages, mental and emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of personal development, and lowered societal reputation.

Mr Kabendera demands that Vodacom make the payment within 14 days from the date of receiving the letter, stating that failure to do so will result in legal action without further notice.

Lawyer Madeleka confirmed writing the letter on behalf of his client, Mr Kabendera, and stated that it had already been dispatched to Vodacom on April 25, 2024.

Vodacom Tanzania PLC director of communications, Ms Zuweina Furaha, confirmed receiving the letter, noting that the company was working on it.

"We have received the information (letter) related to the said claims. We are working on the matter through our legal team," Ms Furaha told this reporter.

Mr Kabendera wrote the letter against Vodacom four years after the conclusion of his case.

In the letter, he recounts the events that occurred after his mobile phone lost connectivity, making it impossible for him to access communication services.

In his efforts to determine the cause, the letter says he contacted customer care service and later visited Vodacom offices, but his problem remained unresolved.

According to the letter, the ordeal started on July 27, 2019, at 9:00 AM when he turned on his phone, which he had turned off since the previous night, just to realise it had lost network connection.

He then borrowed someone else's phone to contact customer care service to find out what had caused the lack of communication on his phone.

A Vodacom customer service representative informed him that his Vodacom phone number (+255767456796) had technical challenges, therefore requiring him to report to the nearby customer care services centre, which was Tegeta.

Mr Kabendera asked the representative to briefly explain the problem before visiting the centre. Still, the representative refused, stating that it was a sensitive issue that required him to go to the centre in person.

"However, (Mr Kabendera hesitated to go to the customer care service centre because, since 2016, the centre has recorded several incidents of people’s abduction or arrest when they visit," reads another part of the letter, adding:

"On Monday, July 29, 2019, at 10:00 AM, Mr Kabendera called customer care service again, complaining that he needed to withdraw money from his phone to buy medicine for his sick mother."

The Vodacom representative who assisted him, the letter says, asked him to wait a bit while he consulted his manager and returned a few minutes later to inform him that his issue was so sensitive that it was beyond their capability to resolve.

Instead, they advised him to visit their Mlimani City offices in Dar es Salaam that morning.

However, at 3:00 PM on the same day, July 29, 2019, his phone suddenly started working, and he received a call from a Vodacom customer care service representative who asked him to explain his problem.

After Mr Kabendera did so for about three minutes, he ended the call, promising to call him back later.

Three minutes later, the letter says, Mr Kabendera received a call from Vodacom customer care service and realised it was a man who was speaking on the other side.

The caller, the letter says, asked Mr Kabendera to tell him his whereabouts at that particular time, and the call seemed to be recorded.

"Before the call was ended, our client heard the caller whispering to someone else that he was at his home and instructed him to move closer to the house," reads part of the letter.

According to the letter, these details alarmed Mr Kabendera, and he ran to the upper part of his house where he could see several unfamiliar cars parked near his house.

Then another car, a Toyota Alphard, parked in front of those cars on the right side of his house, the letter says.

Then, the letter alleges, four people got out of that car who identified themselves as police officers, but they refused to produce their identification. They then handcuffed him and detained him for two days.

The letter continues to explain that during the interrogation, the police officers arrived in the interrogation room with printouts from his mobile money account and phone numbers he had called throughout the year.

They questioned him about the purpose of each transaction he had made in the past year and his relationship with people he had contacted several years ago.

Mr Kabendera complains through the letter that the police and the government made several conflicting statements to the public regarding his arrest, accused him of not being a citizen, and defamed then-President John Magufuli.

"He was eventually charged in court with money laundering, economic sabotage, and tax evasion, and then placed under highly guarded Segerea prison," the statement reads, adding:

"And the trial of his case in court was postponed 12 times, with the prosecution requesting more time for investigation."

While in custody, the letter says Mr Kabendera's mother, Ms Verdiana Mujwahuzi, passed away, that his client was not allowed to attend her funeral, and that he was experiencing health problems at that time.

The letter also states that, due to this situation, he was forced to accept charges levelled against him and pay Sh273 million in compensation to be released from custody.

After being released, the letter says his friends and family members told him that they were warned by the police not to visit him in prison; otherwise, they would be in danger.

After being arrested at his home in Mbweni on July 29, 2019, Mr Kabendera was held for a whole week, then arraigned at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate's Court in Dar es Salaam on August 5, 2019, facing charges of economic sabotage.

He was charged with three counts of planning and collaborating with a criminal network.

Other charges facing Mr Kabendera, who, according to the prosecution, besides being a journalist, is also a businessman, include tax evasion to the tune of Sh173 million and money laundering of over Sh173 million.

He was alleged to have, on various dates between January 2015 and July 2019, committed the crime of supporting a criminal gang to reap personal gains.

In the second charge of tax evasion, he was alleged to have, on various dates between January 2015 and July 19, 2019, evaded Sh173,247,047.02 tax.

He was alleged to have committed the offence while knowing that the money was the proceeds of tax evasion and participation in organised crime.

However, Mr Kabendera was released on February 24, 2020, after negotiating an agreement with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), admitting to the charges facing him.

In the agreement, he had one charge of conspiracy dropped and remained with two charges of tax evasion and money laundering, which he pleaded guilty to when re-read in court.

When asked by Magistrate Agustine Rwizile if he agreed voluntarily, he confessed that it was his choice and he was not intimidated.

Due to his confession, the court found him guilty and sentenced him to pay a Sh250,000 fine or serve a three-month jail term upon failing to pay the fine for the tax evasion charge.

Additionally, for the same offence, the court ordered him to pay compensation for the caused loss equivalent to Sh173,247,047.02, the amount of evaded tax.

For the second money laundering offence, he was sentenced to a fine of Sh100 million according to the agreement between him and the DPP, and it was stated that the penalties were separate and not concurrent.

Mr Kabendera was able to pay the Sh100 million fine, which he had already paid before the agreement was brought to court, and the Sh250000 was paid on the day of his release.