She maintained that Orange is willing and ready to work with NATCOM in order to ensure transparency, accountability and satisfactory service for their subscribers. She added that Orange is delighted over the visit because they believe that they (Orange) cannot do it alone without professional guidance and advice from NATCOM. She added that what Orange has done so far in terms of achievements is an open book, and that the company has a range of ideas and plans to extend and improve on their services and facilities by the end of the year and in the year ahead.
She thanked NATCOM for their support to Orange over the years and pledged that the company shall always inform NATCOM of its plans.
Speaking on behalf of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Senegalese-born Aminata Kane Ndiaye who was unavoidably absent, the Legal, Regulatory and Compliance Director, Haffie Hafner said they were delighted over the visit of NATCOM.
In a power-point presentation, she revealed the progress, challenges and future plans of Orange which she said are all for the overall benefit of their numerous subscribers. She maintained that Orange has been very compliant as far as paying taxes and other obligations to the government and to NATCOM are concerned.
She informed her audience that Orange is among telecom companies in Sierra Leone paying taxes on time and that the company is also a very high employer of locals not only in Sierra Leone but in Africa as a whole.
In his response, NATCOM DG, Mr. Maxwell Hinga Massaquoi stated that NATCOM is there to ensure that telecom providers in Sierra Leone do not only abide by the laws of the land but that they conduct their operations in a transparent and accountable manner for the benefit of the general public. He emphasized that Orange is not the only telecom service provider in Sierra Leone and that as Director General of NATCOM he is not siding any telecom service provider and that the Commission would be looking at correcting whatever is wrong with the telecom industry that he inherited.
He added that he has plans to hold further meetings with telecom service providers for a collective approach to achieving transparency and accountability in the industry and called on Orange management to maintain and improve on its current status.
The team from NATCOM which included the Deputy Director General Mr. Kaitibi and Director of Corporate and Consumer Affairs, Abdul Kuyateh were then taken on a conducted tour of the Orange administrative facility by Human Resource Director, Jestina Betts assisted by Mr. Desmond Spaine the acting Corporate Affairs Director.
The team along with members of the media inspected the operations of the Finance, Customer Experience, and other administrative departments that were full of smiling and courteous staff.
