Kenyans were however hopeful that the Kamiti gang that has been conning unsuspecting people from the walls of prison would now be stopped.
Some prominent Kenyans who defied a government deadline to register their Sim cards were shocked when their lines were switched off
They took to social lament over the deactivation of their mobile phone numbers following the expiry of the October 15 deadline for updating of sim registration details set by Communication Authority (CA).
Prominent personalities who “could not be reached” included Makueni Governor Mutula Kilonzo, Nairobi-based lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi, Nandi Senator Samson Charargei and Azimio La Umoja technology guru George Njoroge.
Through his Twitter account, Abdullahi vowed to abandon mobile service provider Safaricom after they switched his line despite being a loyal subscriber for decades.
“After 2 and half decades of being a loyal customer of @Safaricom_Care they unceremoniously switched off my line this Sunday.
Tomorrow I will move to one of the competitors and will never use their service again,” the lawyer tweeted
However Safaricom has since restored the telephone number of the Senior Council.
“Safaricom sent me an SMS that my telephone line has been suspended with immediate effect. I’m sure they are not serious about this callous and illegal threat!,” Abdulahi said.
Nandi Senator Aron Cherargei also complained of inconveniences caused by the switch off of his line despite “staying loyal” to the service provider for 15 years.
“After 15 years of having @SafaricomPLC lines they have decided to switch off their services today morning, inconveniencing me,” the Senator tweeted.
A number of Kenyans said they did not take the initial warning seriously and were waiting till the last minute to get registered. Deactivated subscribers can however get reactivated upon updating their details.
“SIM-registration is a continuous process. Operators are not going to stop the exercise because of the 15th October deadline. We expect them to continue with the process,” CA Telecoms Licensing and Compliance Assistant Director Liston Kirui said.
Customers whose lines will have been deactivated will have a three-month window to re-register their SIM cards and reclaim the current phone numbers.
“After 15th October deadline, subscribers whose lines will have been deactivated will still have an opportunity to re-register. Of course, they will have more to do after being deactivated,” Kirui added.
