Suvi Lindén, a two-time cabinet member, has found herself embroiled in the case of a middle-aged businessman who was found dead in a hotel room in Kampala, Uganda, on 6 February.
Lindén accompanied the middle-aged businessman on his visit to Uganda. She initially seemed to imply that she travelled to the country as a representative of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a specialised agency established under the United Nations.
“Fostering the information society in poor countries has been part of my responsibilities as a special envoy for the UN’s telecommunication union since 2011,” she wrote in response to reports of her visit to Uganda.
ITU, however, revealed that it was not aware of the visit and stressed that the ex-cabinet member neither serves as a representative of nor has an official role with the union. Lindén subsequently clarified that her tenure as special envoy ended in 2015.
“I never claimed in my post that this was an assignment from the telecommunication union,” she argued.
“I had a voluntary role with the telecommunication union that was based on a personal invitation from the secretary general. I haven’t been compensated for it. It has been my duty to speak about the importance of sound telecommunications infrastructure and smartphones in developing countries.”
Lindén revealed that the purpose of her visit was to examine the readiness of various ministries to launch projects that utilise low-cost smartphones to improve the daily lives of people in Uganda.
The Finnish businessman had obtained permission to distribute marketing material for the products of Patria, a state-owned defence manufacturer, in Uganda and Mozambique. Ugandan law enforcement authorities have yet to rule out foul play in his death.
