The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) will consult with mobile network operators on the possible extension for the sim card registration process.
CA Director General Ezra Chiloba said the exercise aims to crack down on fraudsters using unregistered sim cards to commit crime. He said extending the deadline would give subscribers an opportunity to validate their registration details with the telcos.
“We will have a meeting this evening to deliberate ways in which we can help citizens register. The sim cards might be switched off tomorrow but we will listen to the operators because it was their obligation to re-register the sim cards afresh and ensure that persons seeking to do so submit all of the required details as mandated by law,” said Chiloba.
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Chiloba was speaking at Masol area in West Pokot County during the launch of the USF Voice infrastructure connectivity project on Thursday.
ICT CS Joe Mucheru who was also at the event however questioned why Kenyans are calling for an extension yet the directive was made two years ago.
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“This directive was given two years ago not now. Why is it that people now want the deadline to be extended? It is the same challenges we had during voter registration. This registration will ensure that we will have more safety and security for our citizens,” he said.
Last week, Chiloba clarified that only subscribers who had not registered were required to do so. However, as of yesterday, there was still a lot of confusion among Safaricom customers who were still getting messages asking them to complete registration by visiting their centres.
The registration deadline lapses today. CA had earlier said that subscribers who failed to register risk a six-month jail term and/or a Sh300,000 fine.
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