Media reports that the four Kenyan telco heads had been summoned by the Kenyan Criminal Investigations Department on call by the Communications Commission of Kenya have been confirmed in a joint press conference held today.
The press conference was held by all four mobile operator CEOs where they addressed the media regarding the directive by CCK. The press release mentions that the four operators have over 30 million mobile phone users registered across the board.
They added that they are in full compliance with the law and will work with the regulators and law enforcement agencies. They however left out confirmation if indeed it is true that there are 650,000 unregistered SIM Cards in use in Kenya and instead expressed displeasure with the way the issue was handled, without necessarily pointing who exactly they are displeased with.
There were reports that one of the Telcos CEOs had been arrested yesterday following the directive to have them provide information regarding SIM registration. See below the press release:
Joint Statement by Kenyan Mobile Operators
Nairobi, October 8, 2013… We would like to confirm that the four mobile operators licensed by the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) received communication from the Criminal Investigations Department of the Kenya Police Service requiring the respective CEOs to appear before CID officials to provide information with respect to SIM registration.
We can confirm that we are giving the relevant authorities our full cooperation.
We are also aware of media reports that the Ministry of Information and Communications through the CCK have directed the Kenya Police Service to pursue criminal proceedings against the CEOs of the respective organisations.
We wish to inform the general public that since the publication of the SIM registration regulations in January of 2013, the mobile operators continue to maintain and update a registered subscriber base of over 30 million mobile phone users.
All four operators have gone over and above what is required by law by adhering to international standards of mobile systems security. We have also invested heavily in our endeavour to provide a convenient, widely available and secure communications infrastructure to serve the Kenyan population.
As the four mobile operators in Kenya, we are fully aware of our role in safeguarding the integrity of our systems and the infrastructure that has become integral to the economic and social security of our country and its people.
We wish to assure the public and the Government that we are in full compliance with the law and will continue working together with the various regulators and law enforcement agencies in the execution of their public duty.
In closing, we wish to express our extreme displeasure at the sensational manner in which this issue has been handled. As licensed operators, we maintain a daily engagement with our regulators and are always available for open dialogue.
