Report from Nigeria, Iran and South Africa indicate that within a matter of days, MTN has faced different potential misfortunes in those countries. Whiles some aggrieved workers of the MTN call centre in Jos, Nigeria are reportedly threatening to shut down the centre, the MTN Group itself is facing a potential law suit in the USA over bribery charges in Iran, and in South Africa the company’s headquarters grappled with a bomb scare. The Jos call centre workers’ threat was due to an alleged “exploitation” by the management of the local station. Nigerian News Agency (NAN) quoted the workers as saying the MTN management promised an upward review of their wages after confirming their appointments but they had failed on that promise. “When we were recruited two years ago, we were given a flat salary of N35,000 per month with a promise that the figure would be ‘significantly increased’ after we were confirmed. “But to our dismay, we were only given a flat rate of N2,000. We find that simply unbelievable because our contemporaries in other states are paid between N100,000 and N120,000,” the workers claimed. The workers said they were no fewer than 2,000 and insisted that they would shut down the centre if the management continued what they described as “organized exploitation.” NAN revealed that a recruitment agency which recruited the workers for MTN Jos placed each worker on a salary of N120,000 a month instead of N35,000 the workers claimed they were receiving. The staff also accused MTN of preventing them from forming a workers’ union and described the situation as “unfair”, saying the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Plateau Government should intervene. SOUTH AFRICA Meanwhile in South Africa, there are reports on twitter of a bomb scare at the Groups’ headquarters in Johannesburg. Even though the bomb scare has been ruled out as “false alarm”, management still called on the South Africa Police Service (SAPS) because there had been reports that unrests at MTN Nigeria may have implications for MTN South Africa. It appears a group in Nigeria’s oil rich Niger-Delta is furious over South African President Jacob Zuma’s interference in their affairs. According to Nigerian discussion forum nairaland.com, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger-Delta this weekend threatened to bomb telecommunication giant MTN, SACOIL and other investments of South Africa in Nigeria, due to “the alleged interference of President Jacob Zuma in its struggle for justice in the Niger-Delta”. But MTN South Africa Boss, Karel Pienaar was quoted as saying operations at the head office are running smoothly, following a “quick response and efficiency” from the SAPS and Johannesburg Metro Police Department. IRAN But that does not end the woes of MTN as the Group has confirmed that it faces a potential lawsuit in the United States relating to allegations that it bribed Iranian and South African government officials in order to secure the license to become Iran’s second mobile phone operator back in 2005. In a statement issued to the press, MTN said that Turkcell – which was ignominiously stripped of Iran’s second cellular license in 2005 – has informed MTN that it plans to bring a case against it and the MTN Irancell unit, in a US court. But to date, no such claim has been filed in the courts or served to MTN. MTN’s statement said that Turkcell alleged the following: ‘In approximately 2004 and 2005, in an effort to cause the Iranian government to issue the second GSM license to MTN rather than Turkcell, MTN made improper payments to an Iranian and a South African government official.’ Turkcell also alleged that MTN encouraged the South African government to take a favourable position towards Iran’s nuclear power development programme at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency in November 2005. But MTN Chairman Cyril Ramaphosa issued a statement to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) saying ‘MTN has zero tolerance for corrupt and unethical business practices… the MTN board has decided to set up a special committee to consider these allegations in depth and to recommend appropriate action.’ He said the MTN board believed Turkcell’s allegations lacked legal merit and also that ‘a US court would not have jurisdiction to entertain the claim’. Reuters also quoted South African Foreign Ministry spokesman Clayson Monyela in a denial saying: ‘South Africa’s foreign policy is independent and it cannot be influenced by anyone.’