Safaricom gags Porting Access

By Patrick Githinji

The High Court has put a gag order on Porting Access Kenya Limited, prohibiting it from accusing Safaricom of sabotaging the implementation of Mobile Number Portability (MNP.

The orders, granted on late Friday, restrain Porting Access and its chairman — Patrick Mweu Musimba —from publishing any words and statements accusing, linking or associating Safaricom with sabotaging mobile number portability, pending hearing of the case.

"Defendants, whether by themselves, agents, servants or otherwise howsoever be restrained from further publishing or causing to be published any words and statements accusing, linking or associating the plaintiff with sabotaging Mobile Number portability process or any words and statements similarly defamatory of the plaintiff in the implementation of Mobile Number portability process pending the inter partes hearing of this application," read the court order issued May 6 in part.

Safaricom had initially written to Porting Access Kenya’s parent company — Porting Access BV of Netherlands — asking them to retract the statements made by Musimba.

Musimba has in the past accused Safaricom of frustrating the porting process for some subscribers who have opted out of the network.

And on Friday, Safaricom moved to court following refusal by the company to retract the statements, and sought to restrain Porting Access from defaming, publishing or issuing any statements accusing them of sabotaging the implementation of mobile number portability, arguing that it will suffer irreparable injury.

Through lawyer Nelson Havi, Safaricom argued that on April 28, in a press conference Porting Access made a statement suggesting that Safaricom is flouting Communication Commission of Kenya regulations by sabotaging the implementation of mobile number portability.