Kenyans snub SIM card registration order

A majority of Kenyans have ignored a directive to register their phone lines with mobile operators, leaving the Government puzzled over whether to carry out its threat to cut off unregistered SIM cards or extend the deadline.

Only about 40 per cent of the 19 million mobile phone users have registered their personal details with their operators, a week to the July 30 deadline.

But the Government’s hands are tied by the fact that laws allowing mobile operators to deregister SIM cards are not in place although a draft of the legislation has been handed to Cabinet, which if approved will then be published by the A-G’s office.

The Information minister will then take it before Parliament for debate and enactment — a process that could take some time.

Analysts say this will force the government to fast-track the passage of the act in order to give teeth to the directive.

Early this week, Safaricom said it had registered 11.1 million subscribers, about nine million of whom are M-Pesa subscribers, this means just 1.1 million users have formally filed their information.

Second placed operator Zain has registered 60 per cent of its two million subscribers — but like Safaricom, many of these are customers of the mobile money transfer service Zap.

As of Thursday, Telkom Kenya and Yu said they had registered just 40 per cent of their subscribers.

Analysts also worry that the registration process could spell trouble for smaller operators as consumers who own two or more lines may be reluctant to endure several registration processes.

Earlier, Information and Communication minister Samuel Poghisio had said the exercise is aimed at safeguarding the public against acts of insecurity, including the wide spread threats posed by terrorism, drug trafficking, money laundering, extortion, fraud, hate messages, and incitement that are now wide spread throughout the world.

“Kenya cannot afford to ignore or be left behind on initiatives aimed at safeguarding the public against such activities. We owe it to all Kenyans to ensure that everyone is safe,” said Mr Poghisio.

But mobile operators said that no modalities had been agreed on to allow the police to access the data base in the case of emergencies or crimes.

Undertaken the exercise

A number of African states will be asking their citizens to register their lines this year, including Botswana, Cameroon, Cote D’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe in a bid to crack down on criminal activity.

But unlike Kenya, many of the states that have undertaken the exercise have given their citizens ample time to register their lines.