South African firm MTN – named as a main collaborator in making payments to the Taliban – was previously accused of complicity in genocide by cooperating with rebel militias in the DRC, in particular the RPF, which practised slave labour in open-pit rare earth mines (this was in the early days of cellphones, when tantalite was in huge demand) – and mass rape as a weapon of war, 40,000 women raped in one year. MTN exec Irene Charnley said they were just trying to "facilitate business".
Irene Charnley was then heavily implicated in an alleged major bribe to get MTN into Iran, through an inside whistleblower. MTN appointed Lord Hoffmann, a South African in London, to do an inquiry. Lord Hoffmann's daughter had previously worked for MTN, running their banking division, and reporting directly to Irene Charnley. The very person Lord H was investigating. No possible conflict of interest here. Leonard Hoffmann found that the whole story was implausible and somehow that was the end of the matter.
Now MTN are paying off the Taliban – how is it that a South African company is actively and openly giving money to the very people who are attacking the government in Afghanistan? I suppose they're trying to promote business again.
This is as nothing to MTN's complete disregard for health – its preferred sites for towers are schools and churches. Siting towers in school playgrounds, when every single study on towers has found health risks, including child leukaemia – well, if this isn't genocide, I don't know what is.
MTN: "Everywhere You Go."