[kictanet] House team halts Equity Bank's thin-SIM rollout

Wed Sep 24 20:36:22 EAT 2014

@Victor,

Completely agree....but as they say money can get another lawyer to script an equally convincing submission - but for parliamentary intervention (the law is an ass?)

Some said we have had judicial activism and now we seem to  experiencing parliamentary activism. The interesting part is that Equity is the only guy in town who can stare at Safaricom anywhere anytime. Be it at the Regulator, in  Parliament, in Court, in Statehouse, or in Mars.

I will wear my helmet because it does look like it might get bloody sooner than I thought :-)

walu.

--------------------------------------------
On Wed, 9/24/14, Victor Kapiyo via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

 Subject: Re: [kictanet] House team halts Equity Bank's thin-SIM rollout
 To: jwalu at yahoo.com
 Date: Wednesday, September 24, 2014, 6:07 PM

 My reading
 of this is that Parliament when drafting S. 5A of KICA was
 very clear in its intention to give CAK independence and
 shield it from influence from government, political
 or commercial interests in the
 exercise of its powers and in the performance of
 its functions.
 The
 influence referred to in S. 5A also includes influence of
 Parliament or its committees (and whichever other interest
 is pulling strings in the committee). Such that the
 committee cannot lawfully direct CAK to halt the process, or
 halt the process itself especially on a matter which the law
 clearly states that is within CAKs
 mandate. 
 Can
 Parliament request, yes. 
 Is this a request? That's debatable and will
 depend on a good reading of the communication from the
 committee to CAK. And as such the press report maybe
 misleading. 
 The question of sovereignty, while
 is material is irrelevant to the extent that the same
 Parliament has already drafted laws empowering CAK to act
 independently. Nothing stops Parliament or any Kenyan from
 questioning decisions of CAK, which ideally can always be
 done in a court of law or in the court of public
 opinion, depending on the level of
 interest. 
 Parliamentary committees also need
 to understand that there is a limit to their powers under
 the Constitution and Standing orders, and should
 guard against acting ultra vires. 
 My advise to CAK and Parliament is to read the
 law and follow it - Which in effect means to act
 independently.

 Victor

 Victor Kapiyo, LL.B
 ====================================================
 “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will
 determine your altitude” Zig Ziglar

 On 24
 September 2014 15:38, Consumers Federation of Kenya (COFEK)
 via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
 wrote:
 Dear
 Victor, They DO!! It is obviously a
 fallacy that non-technical people make decisions on
 technical issues. But we are not a banana republic – at
 least on paper. If you read Art.1(2) of the
 Constitution – those characters hold enormous powers. They
 make the law for regulator in line with Art.34 (recall CA is
 not a Chapter 15 Commission and “independence” is
 limited).  “The people may exercise their
 sovereign power either directly or through their
 “democratically” elected representatives”
 Art. 1(3)(a) says
 sovereign power is delegated …. To Parliament and the
 legislative assemblies in the County Governments. Also
 read Art. 95 and 96 and so
 on” Kind
 regards,Stephen  Stephen
 MutoroSecretary
 GeneralConsumers Federation of Kenya
 (COFEK)Rehema Place, Block
 F-45Ngong Road/Ring Rd Kilimani
 JunctionP.O Box 28053-00200, City Square,
 NAIROBI, Kenya Tel. 254-20-2615496, 2300859 Fax.
 254-20-3861719; Cell phones: 0715555550,
 0770700007E-mail: hotline at cofek.co.keWebsite: www.cofek.co.keFacebook: "Consumers
 Federation of Kenya (Cofek)"
 Twitter: @ConsumersKenya YouTube:
 "ConsumersKenya" 13th December 2012 -  President Kibaki assents to
 the Consumer Protection Act, 2012 Read it here: http://www.cofek.co.ke/Consumers%20Protection%20Act%202012.pdf   From: kictanet [mailto:kictanet-bounces+hotline=cofek.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke]
 On Behalf Of Victor bwire via kictanet
 Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2014 5:22
 PM
 To: The Consumers Federation of
 Kenya (Cofek)
 Subject: Re: [kictanet]
 House team halts Equity Bank's thin-SIM
 rollout Dear
 Grace  the House Team has no
 supervisory powers over the Regulator- Not at
 all Just that MPs have become
 terrible regards Victor On Wed, Sep 24, 2014 at 4:47
 PM, Grace Githaiga via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
 wrote:@
 Victor,  The heading  of this article
 says the 'house team halts..." while  the body of the
 story has "has asked CA to halt..." It might be
 semantics but my interpretation of this is that this is a
 request to CA, and not a directive.
 Yes? Tell me, does the house team
 have oversight over regulatory matters? I am looking at KICA
 2013 Article 5 on CA's
 independence: 5A. (1) The Authority shall
 be independentand free of control by
 government, political orcommercial interests in the
 exercise of itspowers and in the performance
 of its functions. (2) In fulfilling its
 mandate, the Authorityshall be guided by the
 national values andprinciples of governance in
 Article 10 and thevalues and principles of
 public service in Article232 (1) of the
 Constitution. What would happen say if CA
 disregards the House team's
 demand? RgdsGG Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2014
 11:54:17 +0100
 Subject: Re: [kictanet]
 Equity Given Go Ahead by CAK
 From: kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
 To: ggithaiga at hotmail.comThe tables have turned
 again:  House team halts Equity
 Bank's thin-SIM
 rollout The National Assembly’s
 Energy and ICT Committee has asked the Communications
 Authority (CA) to halt Equity Bank thin-SIM card rollout
 until it is satisfied of the security of the
 technology. http://www.nation.co.ke/news/politics/House-team-halts-Equity-Bank-thin-SIM-rollout/-/1064/2463762/-/2srp37/-/index.html
 Victor Kapiyo,
 LL.B
 ====================================================
 “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will
 determine your altitude” Zig
 Ziglar On 22 September 2014 18:49,
 Martin Gicheru via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
 wrote:Safaricom does not necessarily
 agree to the move but will cooperate while it still needs
 to. ”We are particularly encouraged
 that CA has commenced the process of hiring an independent
 and reputable international firm to conduct a security audit
 on all SIM cards, and in particular the use of the SIM
 overlay technology in mobile money transfer services. We
 therefore implore the CA to fast track the security review
 and to publish the guidelines in the interests of protecting
 consumers and financial institutions who will remain
 vulnerable to the potential risks created by the
 ‘man-in-the-middle attack’.
 ”  http://techmoran.com/safaricom-remains-adamant-thin-sim-vulnerabilities/ On Mon, Sep 22, 2014 at 6:36
 PM, Bernard Kioko via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
 wrote:Change is the only permanent
 thing!
 -----Original Message-----
 From: kictanet
 [mailto:kictanet-bounces+bkioko=bernsoft.com at lists.kictanet.or.ke]
 On Behalf
 Of Walubengo J via kictanet
 Sent: Monday, September 22, 2014 6:30 PM
 To: bkioko at bernsoft.com
 Subject: Re: [kictanet] Equity Given Go Ahead
 by CAK

 @Charles,

 Interesting views.  I dont
 speak for Equity - and am not even a MEMBER
 (their customer).  However, they have the
 following going for them.

 1) they do have their OWN SIM card targetting
 their 8m banking customers.
 They can
 actually make money out their core group of customers using
 their
 mobile virtual network (riding on
 Airtel telco infrastructure i believe).
 2)
 the thin-SIM technology is just a nice option for their 8m
 customers AND
 the 20+million Safaricom
 customers.
 3) indeed Safcom can play dirty
 but I am sure they wont because (a) they can
 take on Equity challenge and (b) the regulator
 seems more ready than ever to
 pounce on them
 (recall regulator has been "looking" for them over
 quality
 issues  :-).

 Remember, this looks like a mobile money
 battle, but the real deal is the
 collateral
 damage it is likely to cause in the voice market because
 once a
 Safaricom customer mounts the thin
 SIM Card and discovers that they can make
 cheaper calls/sms with it without losing their
 MPESA functionality...they
 will actually be
 having their cake (MPESA) while eating it (making Cheaper
 calls on the Equity Mobile virtual network).

 Essentially, Equity is
 breaking a small gap into the Safaricom defensive
 wall(MPESA) and once in, even the data-market
 may eventually be free for all
 i.e.
 #checkmate.

 walu.

 --------------------------------------------
 On Mon, 9/22/14, Charles Kimani via kictanet
 <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
 wrote:

  Subject: Re: [kictanet] Equity Given Go Ahead
 by CAK
  To: jwalu at yahoo.com
  Date: Monday, September 22, 2014, 4:44 PM

  I
  think
 the thin sim strategy is brilliant...in  theory.
  However, I am also
  wondering just how wise it is to place the
 success of your  business model
 at the
 mercy of a hostile, powerful and  uncooperative business
 rival.  What
 if - 6 months after launch,
 for  example - Safaricom decide to upgrade all
 their sim cards  (genuinely or otherwise) just
 when Equity is in the middle
 of a critical
 (probably expensive) product  rollout?  What if 
 Safaricom
 customer service and dealer/retail
 channels start  advising subscribers who
 are having issues with their lines  that the
 thin sim is the cause of their
 problems and
 show  them how to remove it?
  How will
 Equity map their processes
  and logistics
 with the Safaricom SIM replacement processes?
  Will Equity subscribers need to remember to
 make an extra  stop at an
 Equity outlet to
 have their thin sim re-attached  once they do a sim
 swap?
 How easy is it to attach these thin 
 sims?
  We have
  previously
 seen smart sabotage tactics bring down SAB Miller 
 ambitions in
 the Kenyan market. Equity - in
 my opinion - is  giving too much firepower to
 a determined competitor. It  might be cheaper
 in the long run to just invest
 in own SIM 
 and take Safaricom head-on.
  Regards,Charles
  On Mon, Sep
 22, 2014 at
  4:18 PM, Dennis Kioko via
 kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
  wrote:
  Meanwhile, I did get
 the Equitel SIM Card  (haven't seen the infamous
 Thin
 SIM). So far, here's  my
 experience with the
 same. http://www.infotake.co.ke/2014/09/how-does-equity-banks-equitel-work.h
 tml
  On 22 September 2014
 16:11, Barrack
  Otieno via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
  wrote:
  Sometimes
  diversification leads to loss of focus.
 Interesting  discussions but let us
 see if
 this scenario will change some  of this Principles that
 have evolved
 over time.

  Best Regards

  On Mon, Sep 22,
  2014 at
 3:56 PM, Bernard Kioko via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
  wrote:
  I have noted media
 reports
  indicating Equity has been granted
 go-ahead by CAK to  operate with
 Thin-Sim
 cards. Game changing I  suppose.  

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