Ugandan police have confirmed that Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei is rolling out a massive surveillance system that uses facial recognition and other artificial intelligence software to fight crime in the central African country.

The police force made the statement on Tuesday in response to a report by the Wall Street Journal that Huawei technicians had helped intelligence officials in Uganda to spy on their political opponents. Spokesperson Fred Enanga denied that the police force was using Huawei’s technology to monitor opposition figures but confirmed that a new surveillance system was in use.

The project, which includes the nationwide installation of Huawei closed-circuit television cameras, is part of the Chinese firm’s Safe City initiative, which has been rolled out in more than 200 cities around the world. In Nairobi, the capital of neighbouring Kenya, Huawei’s small spherical cameras are ubiquitous in the city centre, perched on slender lampposts at most intersections.