Treasury backs CA board’s bid to have Airtel pay licence fee

The battle for control of Kenya’s telecoms sector regulator yesterday took a new turn after the agency’s embattled board members made public correspondence showing that the Treasury supported their position requiring Airtel to pay the Sh2.1 billion licence renewal fee.

The revelation was made in response to claims by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) chairman Ben Gituku and director-general Francis Wangusi last week that the board’s insistence on payment of the licence fee was driven by the quest for bribes.