This archive report was first published on 16 August 2019.
On Friday, Uganda and Zambia denied a report by The Wall Street Journal that employees of Chinese telecom giant Huawei had helped them spy on political opponents.
According to the report, Huawei technicians assisted the two African governments in intercepting communications and social media activity of their opponents, as well as tracking their movements.
Ugandan presidential spokesman Don Wanyama told AFP, "It is totally false to claim Huawei helped African governments, including Uganda, spy on its political opponents. Why spy on Bobi Wine?"
Wanyama's statement came after The Wall Street Journal reported that Huawei technicians helped Ugandan authorities use spyware to monitor pop star turned opposition icon Bobi Wine.
Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, became a lawmaker in 2017 and is preparing to challenge President Yoweri Museveni in Uganda's 2021 presidential election.
Meanwhile, Zambian government spokeswoman Dora Siliya slammed the WSJ report on Twitter, saying, "The WSJ article on government spying on political opponents is malicious, we refute it with the contempt it deserves."
On August 16, 2019, Huawei released a statement rejecting the "unfounded and false allegations about its commercial operations in Algeria, Uganda, and Zambia." The statement also emphasized that Huawei's professional code of conduct prevents any activity that compromises the data or private life of its clients.
