Produce subscriber, judge tells Safaricom

By Wahome Thuku

Safaricom cannot identify the subscriber of a number, which is the subject of investigation in a murder case.

Yesterday, the mobile phone company lawyers told the High Court it could not identify subscribers of pre-paid services.

Safaricom lawyers said only the names of post-paid subscribers could be traced.

The company said it could only produce records of calls received or made by the number.

But Justice Onesmus Mutungi accused the company of being inept.

"If you are saying Safaricom has no control over the services it offers, then the order would be to close the service," Justice Mutungi said.

On Monday, the court summoned Safaricom CEO Michael Joseph to disclose the owner of a number suspected to belong to a warder at Nairobi’s Industrial Area Remand Prison, a Kiprono.

Yesterday, attempts by lawyer Evans Monari to explain that the law bars the company from disclosing some data did not go well with the judge.

The lawyer pleaded with the court to summon the company engineer, but Justice Mutungi declined, saying his orders were directed to the Chief Executive.

Pushed hard

Pushed further, the lawyers said they could trace the location where the call was made.

The judge ordered the mobile phone company to trace the location of the call and produce the subscriber on March 2.

Last Wednesday, lawyer Mike Oyoo had claimed he had visited the prison and found his client — the murder suspect — outside the cells naked.

denied claim

But the officer-in-charge of prisons at the Nairobi Law Court Richard Kosgey denied the allegation and instead accused the lawyer of lying to the court.

Oyoo said he had received a call from a prison warder, telling him that his client would not be taken to court.

He then went to the prison, he said, and saw the client from the gate standing alone, naked and yelling.