NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr, 10 – Long queues, characteristic of those witnessed at polling stations during an election year, best encapsulates the rush against time for millions of Kenyans at various mobile network operator’s stores nationwide in a bid to ensure that their SIM cards are properly registered.
Confusion, misinformation, and poor communication are however said to have marred the exercise with the communications authority of Kenya Director-General Ezra Chiloba apologizing to Kenyans for what seemed to be a disorganized process further promising to improve on the same.
“We do not want to cause panic, we want to create an understanding that if you do not do what is right the penalties are actually severe and provided for in law….The events of the last three days have instead pointed to the need for better coordination, communication, and collaboration among all actors,” he said.
Chiloba meanwhile refuted claims that the validation exercise has a correlation to the August 9 elections, saying that the process to commence the nationwide exercise was first mooted in 2021.
“This exercise has nothing to do with the elections, we started much earlier following the operation we carried out in 2021 and the misuse of SIM cards….The report we had was conversations between CAK and operators to ensure compliance and it has been ongoing. The demand for compliance was necessary…we felt the need to put a cut off date to avoid this back and forth conversation,…it is a coincidence it happened to be in the election year,”
“We are very sensitive to the impact of misinformation, especially around the electioneering period. We have already seen how facts around this exercise have been misrepresented. While it does not surprise us, I wish to encourage the media and the public to be vigilant on facts as we go through this exercise,” said Chiloba.
Origin Of Validation Exercise
According to the Communications Authority of Kenya, the process for validation of Sim Cards was actualized following an inspection in at least 22 counties where telecommunication regulations regarding SIM card sale and registration were not being observed.
“SIM cards are given for free, use of fictitious identity card numbers in most cases, therefore not resulting in registration but the sale of the line,” said Chiloba who further revealed that,” SIM cards are sold without the presentation of an identification document and no verification is done,”
It was further established that SIM cards were sold without registration and customers were only later advised to register their cards.
Also, the inspection revealed that SIM cards were sold using other people’s ID cards or proxies, or other documents like the NSSF cards and student IDs, among others.
The exercise is seen as a deterrent against the increased cases of sim-boxing, financial fraud, kidnapping, terrorism, and related crimes that prevail as a result of compromised sim card registration processes.
The government has now issued a nationwide ban on the sale or hawking of SIM cards across the country this as Mobile Network Operators (MNO) urge Kenyans to purchase SIM cards from authorized dealers in order to avoid being duped.
“Safaricom does not hawk lines…if this happens we would like to know where and deal with it,” said Nicholas Mulila, Chief Risk Management, Security, Safaricom.
Not Fresh Registration But Validation
Amidst the confusion and rush to validate one’s personal information before April 15, Chiloba says that mobile network operators had been directed to commence the exercise on February,24,2022.
The exercise the regulator says is meant to address the documentation gaps within the sector by both operators and customers.
“This is beneficial to both operators and subscribers. As a result, the exercise will continue until the 15th April 2022 deadline. The Authority will provide further guidance depending on the outcome of the exercise,”
One of the key sources of confusion during this exercise has been the requirements needed for the validation of SIM cards.
Chiloba has now clarified that Kenyans are not obligated to submit their photographs during the validation or registration process but instead only avail their Identity cards, service cards for members of the disciplined forces, passports, and birth certificates where necessary.
Foreigners will meanwhile be required to provide their passports.
“As far as CA is concerned, we are not requiring subscribers to provide their photographs, that is not our requirement, now that is the relationship between yourself and Safaricom….In our engagement we have agreed we should not request photographs from subscribers when they are verifying their details…but I know that in future this might become necessary and I do not think they are doing this in bad faith,”
“At Safaricom, we have been taking photos and the reason is to enhance the security of the resources and the data of our customers. What we have seen in the past is there has been a lot of incidence of impersonation and M-Pesa Fraud driven by stolen identity and we thought it was a good way to continue to make our customers safe and secure their data private,” said Mulila.
Kenyans are now not obligated to physically go to the mobile operators’ shop but can instead confirm their status through the USSD code *106# on all telecommunication platforms with standardized menus and messages in place.
The exercise is free of charge with mobile agents warned against demanding money from Kenyans.
Safaricom has revealed that the validation exercise can be conducted across their 200,000 registered agents nationwide as well as at select places including charges among other institutions.
Airtel meanwhile is conducting the exercise at major stores including at 50,000 agent shops nationwide.
“When you get that message saying the following telephone lines have been registered under your ID….it means you are compliant…you don’t have to trouble yourself going to queue to verify your information. Once you get that message indicating you number verifying your ID, that should suffice,”
Kenyans with multiple mobile numbers registered using their IDs have however been warned and urged to take extra precautions while validating their status.
Any mobile number reported to have been registered using a stranger’s ID will be deactivated and criminal proceedings launched against its owner.
Also, those found to have registered their mobile numbers using false information or failed to comply with the regulations will be slapped with an Sh300,000 fine. This also applies to the operator for every complaint filed.
Meanwhile, Chiloba revealed that those who obtained their mobile numbers before 2015 could still be required to present themselves physically before a registering agent or the principal shops of mobile operators to have a copy of their ID, Service card, or alien card for foreigners validated.
Does Your Child Have A SIM Card Registered under Your Name?
Mercy Wanja, the Director, Legal Services at the communications Authority has meanwhile urged parents and guardians alike to also register their children’s mobile numbers.
A SIM card registered for a minor is said to be subject to, a “higher cautionary outlook” that would not be available for an adult
“Therefore it is incumbent for any parent or guardian whether the minors in their custody have numbers that are appropriately registered…and one requirement is the production of a birth certificate, it needs to be regularized for the sake and security of the child who continues to use that device…it is consumer protection issue,” said Wanja.
Progress of Validation Exercise.
According to the various CEO of the mobile operators that accompanied CA during the press briefing, the exercise is going on smoothly.
Telkom Kenya CEO Mugo Cibati has said that the exercise is above 50 per cent expressing confidence in beating the April, 15 deadline.
Safaricom has a completion rate of 62 per cent, while Airtel Kenya is at 52 per cent.
“Government is reviewing whether the legal framework we are under suits the technological levels we are at today. Not just us as operators, even bad actors evolve with technology….the smarter the bad guy gets, the smarter we have to get too,” said Kibati.
The ministry of ICT has meanwhile established a task force to review regulations within the sector including emerging trends, adoption of new regulations and even setting a cap on the maximum number of SIM cards that can be registered on a single ID card.
Consultations are meanwhile also ongoing for Kenyans who have taken loans via the various mobile service providers – the central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and CA are expected to reveal the way forward, particularly for those whose mobile numbers will be deactivated.
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