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Shockwaves are still rippling through Uganda’s telecom corridors after Richard Yego, the Managing Director of MTN Mobile Money Uganda Ltd (MTN MoMo), stepped down, setting the stage for a dramatic February 2026 handover.
Officially, it is a diplomatic transition. Unofficially, insiders are whispering about peanuts salary, boardroom jealousy, profit obsession and a silent corporate war that made his position untenable.
Yego will hand over at the end of February 2026 after a four-year tenure. Sarah Bateta Okwi, the Chief Finance Officer since May 2022, will step in as Acting Managing Director.
But what really forced him out?
RedPepper has dug deep — and what we have unearthed is explosive.
Sources close to Yego confirm he signed a new deal with a new employer in December 2025. We have kept details under the wraps for now in order not jeopardize the transition process at his new work station. “He got a better deal,” one insider told us. “He is not in the country…but all is well on his side and he couldn’t refuse the [new] offer.”
Another source was blunt. “Actually everyone asked themselves what happened? The truth is he got a better paying job than what he was getting at MTN. In short, he was doing a thankless job and saw no point of keeping around.”
At the heart of the storm is money — or the lack of it.
RedPepper is in possession of salary and commission structure of all MTN—direct and indirect staff, from CEO to SIM card vendors. We are still verifying it before we exclusively publish it. But insiders are not mincing words.
“Just know MTN are bad at remuneration,” a senior insider revealed. “But most have nowhere to run. For senior people like Yego who have bigger experience, they can easily be tapped by other regional players.”
Insiders say many staff including senior managers have since polished their CVs and only waiting for the next equal opportunities to leave. Some have already left as the environment is wanting.
Telecom industry watchers agree compensation is becoming a fault line in Uganda’s corporate sector. “When fintech becomes the cash cow of a telecom and the man running it feels undervalued, it creates friction,” one sector observer told RedPepper. “Talent follows money. Always.”
And mobile money is not small change.
Fintech services are rapidly overtaking data in profitability. In 2024 alone, MTN’s fintech segment generated UGX 947 billion, showing significant growth over previous years. It is widely considered a more efficient, higher-margin business in Uganda. Services like MTN MoMo have evolved from simple transfers to full ecosystems — savings, loans, insurance and merchant payments.
In other words, MoMo is the golden goose. And insiders say everyone wanted control of it.
RedPepper understands that Yego’s growing stature unsettled powerful figures within MTN Uganda. Sources claim that many executives — including the CEO — began to see Yego as a potential successor. That perception reportedly did not sit well with current CEO Sylvia Mulinge and other executives eyeing the same top seat.
“People felt unsafe,” one insider claimed. “He was being seen as the next CEO. That made things uncomfortable.”
Tensions allegedly spilled into operational matters. Recruitment turnaround in the MTN MoMo department reportedly deteriorated because the CEO wanted to see every recruit, regardless of her busy schedule, as relations between her and Yego allegedly soured.
Other managers said to have felt uneasy with Yego’s presence include Andrew Bugembe, MTN Uganda Chief Financial Officer, Joseph Bogera, GM Sales and Distribution, and Enid Edroma, GM Corporate Services. More details about this internal hostility will be revealed in our subsequent publications.
Sources also whispered to RedPepper that his acting successor had long coveted the position. Having served as CFO since May 2022 and being described as the “financial architect” behind Yego’s growth numbers, insiders say Sarah Bateta felt the job was hers. “She badly wanted the position,” one source said. “There was backbiting in his absence.”
As MTN MoMo moves toward independence and possible listing, the stakes are enormous. Whoever controls MoMo controls the future revenue engine of MTN.
But beyond boardroom politics lies a deeper corporate culture issue.
Insiders accuse MTN of maximizing profits to the extent of “milking off their own cows” — meaning workers. Staff quietly complain of low pay, cutting per-diems, rationing fuel for field staff, even rationing tea, escorts and lunch at headquarters. Promotional materials that once flowed freely — T-shirts, caps, cups, bottles etc— have dried up. Mobile money agents and bank agents are crying over reduced commissions.
“All this is being blamed on the Mulinge regime,” insiders say.
Telecom sector observers see a pattern. “When a dominant player feels it has captured the market, it begins tightening expenditure,” one analyst explained. “But squeezing staff morale and CSR simultaneously can have long-term reputational costs.”
One of the biggest casualties? The annual MTN Kampala Marathon.
To maximize profits, MTN scrapped the marathon — a move that angered thousands. The event had become a major economic activity generator for running kit makers, contractors, water and juice sellers, events managers, media houses and prize winners. Funds raised bolstered maternal health, renovated schools and extended safe water projects.
Insiders allege that bosses in South Africa — alongside Ugandan tycoon Charles Mbire, who reportedly holds about one percent shareholding — now want even the small money previously used to organize the marathon counted as profit.
“MTN bosses must milk Ugandans at all costs,” one source claimed. “The CEO has been well briefed.”
Observers argue that ever since MTN listed 22.4 billion ordinary shares on the Uganda Securities Exchange, giving Ugandans a sense of ownership, real investment appetite declined. More than 80 percent of profits are reportedly repatriated.
“Simply said, MTN has almost no competition. MTN is swimming in money. They want to keep it,” analysts opine.
WHY MTN WILL MISS HIM
Whereas Yego is not an angel per say as we shall reveal in our next subsequent publications, MTN will still miss him and regret not doing enough to keep him around.
Despite internal friction, Yego’s track record is undeniable.
Appointed under the National Payments Systems Act 2020, which mandated separation of financial services from telecom operations, Yego built a standalone fintech powerhouse capable of competing with banks. By late 2024, MTN MoMo was processing over USD36 billion (Shs140.8 trillion) in annual transactions, connecting more than 13 million monthly active users to a 200,000-agent network.
He scaled merchant payments, digital loans and savings products, with advanced service revenue growing 25 percent year-on-year by 2025. He spearheaded Uganda’s first fully cashless Uganda International Trade Fair in partnership with the Uganda Manufacturers Association. He deepened financial inclusion by integrating digital investments via the Uganda Securities Exchange through the MoMo app.
“He institutionalised mobile money,” one fintech expert said. “He moved it from hustle to structured finance.”
But it was not a bed of roses.
He had to navigate Bank of Uganda regulations, FATF Grey List compliance, heavy KYC and anti-money laundering investments. Rapid growth demanded massive capital expenditure to support 5G and fibre rollout. Airtel Money rivalry forced price wars.
Now his exit marks what analysts call the end of the “Founding Phase” of independent MTN MoMo. A new leader may oversee structural separation and possible private equity investment or separate listing.
Sarah Bateta Okwi steps in as Interim MD with a heavy burden. She must maintain fintech revenue growth currently at 17.9 percent, complete legal and technical separation, protect platform stability from cyber threats, sustain incentives for over 200,000 agents and preserve customer trust.
The Board’s interim move suggests a meticulous global search for a substantive CEO with deep international fintech credentials.
But one question lingers in Uganda’s telecom gossip circles. Was this simply a better offer too good for Yego to refuse? Or did MTN’s peanuts pay, internal jealousy, and profit-first culture push one of its brightest fintech stars out the door?
As one insider chillingly concluded, “When you underpay your generals and empower their rivals, don’t be shocked when they cross to another army.”
Watch this space!
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