Kenya’s High Commissioner to the UK Takes on Safaricom on SIM Card Registration

Kenya's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Manoah Esipisu has taken issue with Safaricom’s appeal to Kenyans to re-register their SIM cards.

On Friday, the giant telco posted a notice on Twitter reminding Kenyans to update their SIM card registration details ahead of the April 15th deadline set by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA).

"Do you know that you need to update your SIM registration details to avoid being disconnected?" Safaricom wrote on its official Twitter page.

But in response, Ambassador Esipisu challenged the mobile service provider to post the exact communique from the Communications Authority to make their appeal simple and clear.

"Please post here the exact instructions from CA so we are sure you are not being overzealous about a very simple thing,” Esipisu stated.

Safaricom requires its customers to visit their shop, dealer, or agent with the Identification Document used during registration (original), and a customer’s signature. The customer will have their photo captured at the point of registration for added security.

For Kenyans in the diaspora, they are required to send an email to advantage@safaricom.co.ke with their phone number, ID/Passport number. They are also required to attach a scanned image of the passport page with visa and bio data, exit stamp from Kenya, and entry stamp to the respective country.

A Kenyan living in the UK has since sued CA over the directive requiring mobile service operators to register their customers afresh.

Eliud Karanja Matindi wants the court to declare the said directive unconstitutional, arguing that it is in violation and infringement of the Constitution (including the Bill of Rights), statutes, regulations and other applicable laws.

He avers that it is unconstitutional to require mobile telephone service subscribers who have already registered their SIM cards with their service provider to register afresh.

CA warned it will suspend and switch off SIM cards of customers who fail to register afresh by April 15th.