The High Court has declined to issue orders stopping the ongoing fresh Sim Card registration by the Communications Authority of Kenya. The High court deputy registrar directed the matter to be mentioned before Justice Edwig Ongudi on June 6th 2022 for further directions.
Eliud Karanja Matindi, a Kenyan living in the United Kingdom, had in March 28, 2022 moved to court through a certificate of urgency seeking to stop the directive by Communication Authority of Kenya that requires mobile service operators to register their customers afresh. Karanja claimed that the said directive is unconstitutional.
“A declaration that the Directive from the 1st Respondent for the 1st and 2nd Respondents and the Interested Party to carry out fresh registration of their existing and already registered mobile telephone service subscribers is unconstitutional and, therefore, null and void,” the application read in part.
Eliud further asked the court to declare that any collection, processing and retention by Safaricom Limited and Airtel Limited or other interested parties of photographs of natural persons registering as mobile telephone service subscribers is unconstitutional and, therefore, null and void.
The matter which came up before the deputy registrar on April 7, 2022 did not proceed for interparties hearing since the judges are currently in a colloquium in Mombasa. The communication Authority of Kenya has given April 15th as the deadline for Sim card registration.
