A former Member of Parliament (MP) for Kumbungu, Abdulai Mohammed Mubarak, popularly known as Ras Mubarak, has sued Scancom PLC. Limited, operators of the country’s leading telecommunications company, MTN, for failing to provide him with roaming services while he was outside Ghana.
In a writ served on the company, the former MP claimed that he has been a loyal prepaid and postpaid customer of MTN Ghana for the past 20 years and, as a frequent traveller, he has always relied “heavily” on MTN’s internet service for his errands.
According to him, he always “activates MTN Ghana’s roaming service on his MTN mobile phone number prior to travelling outside the jurisdiction.”
However, in September this year, he activated the roaming service on his device before travelling to the United Arab Emirates. Upon his arrival, he attempted to “access his mobile phone service multiple times without success.”
He further claimed that the situation made it “impossible to receive calls, send or receive SMS messages, and access internet data services.”
Mr Mubarak said he lodged complaints with MTN Ghana to resolve the situation, but all efforts proved futile, adding that the issue left him “stranded for an entire week without a mobile network connection.”
Ras Mubarak alleged that MTN Ghana’s failure to resolve the challenge while he was away “caused immeasurable damage to his business, including the loss of business opportunities and severe reputational injury, as he could not contact his business associates nor attend scheduled meetings.”
The young politician also claimed that the issue affected his family relationships. He explained that he was unable to send money back home to Ghana for the upkeep of his wives and children.
He further claimed that, due to the unavailability of the service, he had to rely on “employees and other associates” for loans, which he used throughout his entire week in the Emirates.
Mr Mubarak stated that he suffered “severe emotional and psychological anguish and irreparable embarrassment as a well-known public figure.”
He is therefore demanding $5 million in compensation for the “loss of business opportunities, inconvenience, hardship, and embarrassment caused by MTN Ghana’s failure to resolve its network challenges.”
According to the writ, MTN Ghana is also expected to cover any additional expenses incurred in the pursuit of justice for Mr Mubarak.
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