New rules on registration of SIM cards on the way

By JAMES ANYANZWA

The Government will issue fresh regulations to govern the registration of SIM cards as part of efforts to streamline the operations of mobile phone devices.

Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Information,  Communication & Technology (ICT) Fred Matiang’i said the new regulations would help seal  loopholes, which criminals have used in pursuit of their illegal activities.

He said it was not in order for someone to purchase a SIM card and get it activated without providing personal details.  “We are determined to alter SIM card registration in this country in a radical manner,” he said. He added that unless the government takes control of this situation the country is not going to manage aspects of crime and cyber crime.

“It is important for the country and I think as a government it is our responsibility to the people of Kenya,” said Matiang’i.

He said soon the government would make an announcement on a new framework for SIM card registration. He was speaking during the launch of the Kenya Revenue Authority’s 2013 taxpayers’ week in Nairobi yesterday.

The government has threatened the chief executives of the four mobile phone operators with arrest and prosecution for non-compliance with a law requiring the telecom companies to deactivate unregistered SIM cards on their networks.

Matiang’i said the CEOs of the telcos would be held criminally liable for letting their agents blatantly break the law as well as the continued provision of services to customers that failed to register their personal details.  The telcos, according to Matiang’i, have also been selling pre-activated SIM cards contrary to a law that requires the operators not to activate SIM cards on their networks unless the users were registered as well as deactivate unregistered users.

The ministry in January issued the Kenya Information and Communications (Registration of subscribers of Telecommunications Services) Regulation, 2012, which require telecom service providers to maintain a register of all their clients.