Governments efforts to bring sanity in Mobile telephony sector in Kenya frustrated

 By Dan Muhuni

Kenyan Government in its efforts to bring sanity in the ever growing mobile telephony industry, are been frustrated by some unscrupulous Mobile phone operators who gives profit making a priority at the expense of the insecurity challenges we are currently facing.

The government through Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) come up with a well informed subscriber registration that was aimed at safeguarding the public against acts of insecurity including the widespread threats posed by terrorism, drug trafficking, money laundering, extortion, fraud, hate messages, and incitement that are now widespread around the country.

CCK Director General Mr Francis Wangusi says

CCK Director General Mr Francis Wangusi says that there is substantiation evidence of use of unregistered SIM cards on the mobile networks and early this week he demanded that the operators deactivate them or face prosecution.

This governments noble idea to have all the SIM cards registered and issued a directive to all mobile phone companies to be filing periodic date on SIM card registration but this efforts are frustrated by the same mobile phone operators who file doctored data with the Communication Commission of Kenya.

Mobile phone operators have the exclusive rights to control who uses their network and therefore they should be held accountable since they have given mobile terrorism a conducive environment for it to thrive but giving terrorist avenues to complete their mission.

Early this week we saw CEOs from this blatant companies trying to exonerate themselves from the blame BUT i ask this eminent question who is to blame in this SIM card registration hullabaloo?

Is it the government, Mobile telephone operators or the users? But the buck stops with Mobile phone operators……

It’s evident from the CCTV that was released to the media and can vividly see the terrorists using mobile phones to communicate.

Tomorrow we scrutinize the list of Mobile phone operators cooking data that is submitted to CCK. 

Mobile Phone Operators in Kenya have failed us

 By Dan Muhuni

I was personally baffled when I  yesterday saw Chief Executive Officers of leading mobile operators in the country so confident that ALL their active SIM cards are registered. I just hope they read the local dailies today which proved them wrong since they were able to purchase unregistered SIM cards and indeed were able to use them to make calls.

Lets start on Monday where a press conference was held at the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) headquarters where the government gave an arrest warning to all CEOs who will be found flaunting the SIM card regulation act.

PHOTO/ Courtesy The Standard

While addressing the media at the CCK headquarters on Monday Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo said that the security agencies wanted to establish which mobile network(s) may have been used during the terrorist attack since they have hampered their investigations into the Westgate attackers.

CCK Director General Mr Francis Wangusi persisted that there was substantiation evidence of use of unregistered SIM cards on the mobile networks and demanded that the operators deactivate them or face prosecution. Mr Wangusi added that  security agents had since Saturday been able to buy pre-activated SIM cards from operators and continued to use them a claim that has ever since been confirmed.

 

Despite ICT secretary Fred Matiang’i  warning  that top executives of Kenya’s four mobile phone operators would be arrested and charged with allowing unregistered subscribers to use their networks and for facilitating the sale of pre-activated SIM cards. These unscrupulous mobile phone operators continue to hide their head in the sand about the issue of allowing unregistered SIM cards to use their network.

If the CCK directive on the SIM card registration is anything to go by then all CEOs of the concerned companies should be languishing behind the walls of Kamiti prison since they decided to ignore a government directive issued on 20th July 2009 requiring every communications service subscriber in the country to register his or her SIM card. I don’t see the reason they should not risk going to jail after it emerged on Monday that a number of mobile companies have not complied with a directive to register mobile numbers in a move police now believe has compromised state security.

This government directive was ignored by most of the mobile phone operators in the country who decided to keep their interests of profit making and in this i pose the question “Why do we have to put profits above national interest?....Against a well informed subscriber registration that was aimed at safeguarding the public against acts of insecurity including the widespread threats posed by terrorism, drug trafficking, money laundering, extortion, fraud, hate messages, and incitement that are now widespread around the country.

“We have discovered that criminals are obtaining SIM cards without registration facilitated by mobile operators hence CEOs of these operators who have flouted this rule bear criminal responsibility for compromising state security,” added Matiang'i.

Unregistered SIM cards owners had prior to the September date received a 90 days reprieve by the regulator to register their lines failure to which they would be permanently de-activated.

On Monday however Matiang'i and Mr Wangusi accused mobile operators of frustrating efforts by the Government to curb crime perpetrated by mobile phones by not registering new mobile subscribers.

“Mobile operators are failing in their corporate social responsibility by continuing to keep active networks on unregistered SIM cards. They are in turn endangering the national security of the country and this cannot be tolerated,” said Wangusi.

Matiang'i said mobile operators have 48 hours to deactivate all unregistered mobile numbers.

He added that agents caught selling unregistered lines face three years imprisonment and a fine of Sh 300,000 or both.

The officials spoke even as it emerged that lack of unregistered mobile numbers has been impacting negatively on ongoing investigations into the horrific Westgate Shopping Mall terror attack which Somali militants the Al Shabaab has already claimed responsibility. Images released by police captured on closed circuit television cameras from the Al Shabaab attackers showed the captors freely communicating to people believed to be their accomplices on mobile phones.

“It complicates issues when you cannot put a face to a mobile number because it is not registered or because the subscriber is using a fake mobile handset,” a highly placed Government source involved in the Westgate investigations on condition of anonymity told the writer.

IT Fair to offer Kenyans complete digital experience

By Dan Muhuni

Nairobi will host a Digital Fair next month for different organizations and individuals to illustrate their technological capabilities and showcase the latest digital trends to the public.

The three-day event at the Sarit Centre will provide a platform for IT researchers, critics, the business network and the public to exchange experiences and reflect on challenges and the expected impact of digital network technologies.

The event’s organizers, Eyeballs Marketing, say the Fair will offer complete digital experience to visitors interested in the latest digital trends, lifestyle gadgets and other technologies designed to simplify and enrich their lifestyles.

Eyeballs Marketing CEO, Mr. Martin Muli, says the Fair is a response to growth in digital technologies that has transformed how business is done in the country in the last several years.

“It is high time we bring different organizations and experts to a platform where they can meet with the public to debate ideas on digital trends and what the future holds for the country,” says Mr. Muli.

The economy has witnessed massive technological investments in areas like the financial services and telecommunications sectors where firms compete to take advantage of the benefits enabled by technology-driven innovation.

Exhibitors at the Fair will be drawn from all sectors of the economy including telecommunication, media and advertisings firms, lifestyle and products, government agencies, learning institutions and Techie companies.

Some of the companies that will participate include Microsoft East Africa, HP, Safaricom, Google, Samsung and OLX.

“The Digital Fair will  have to levels of exhibitions, the Business Digital Fair and the Digital Future Fair, which will offer the public opportunity to interact with different exhibitors, listen to their presentations, experience technology and buy some of the products on offer,” says Mr. Muli.

The Business Digital Fair will be for businesses to display and show case unique and superior technologies that are in use to enhance the customer experience.

“The Business Digital Fair booths will strictly comprise of businesses, both corporate and SME, and will offer them a chance to provide a full digital experience to the public as well as generate business leads,” explains Mr. Muli.

The target exhibitors under the first level will include hotels, media houses, PR and advertising firms, learning institutions, government bodies, telecommunication companies, foreign companies, technology firms and businesses in lifestyle products.

At the Digital Fair Future, different techies and organizations will present solutions that can positively improve the lives of Kenyans. These solutions will be presented to key decision makers in Government and corporate sectors who have the capacity to engage techies and adopt the digital solutions.

The experts will be expected to tackle ideas on the future of digital technology in areas like disaster management, healthcare, agriculture, management and governance, security and public transport.

Eyeballs Marketing has been involved in planning and management of various successful events like the recent Kenya Social Media Awards, Grand Wedding Anniversary and several county editions of the ongoing Miss Tourism Kenya.