House committee suspends national surveillance system deal

Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore. The mobile service provider was awarded the contract to implement a national surveillance system. (Photo:File/Standard)

Nairobi, Kenya: The National Assembly's committee on national security has suspended the security surveillance system that President Uhuru Kenyatta has been advertising.  The decision knocks the wind out of President Kenyatta’s campaign in which he has been warning criminals to “run and hide” because there will be increased surveillance in the country.

The MPs said the procurement was not above-board, the choice of Safaricom was unclear, and the details of how the project will be executed were simply “not convincing”.