[kictanet] Airtel’s Sh2.1bn licence renewal fee splits CA board

Tue Oct 6 12:04:42 EAT 2015

@CofekIt seems there are intrigues going on within the CA board and which continue to legitimise Kamotho's concerns. By the way, is this board  matter still not pending in court in regards to the appointment process? 
I have read the statement you released and this has struck me: 
"Sensational claims of a director soliciting for a bribe, sections of the board openly defending a licensee and further writing to the ICT Cabinet Secretary asking for a tribunal to sack a fellow board member is conduct unbecoming.We are not defending Mr Wilbert Kipsang Choge's alleged uncivilized character but all board members have same powers. Corporate governance does not envisage a situation in which some directors of a board can gang together to dismiss a colleague. It is akin to a Cabinet Secretary petitioning the President to sack a colleague.Petitions of such nature can only be entertained if they are credible enough and come from outside the CA board".
Are you listening to what you are saying ABOUT not taking sides? What is this director still doing in the CA board if he indeed tried to solicit a bribe? 

Date: Mon, 5 Oct 2015 20:21:24 +0300
Subject: Re: [kictanet]	[***SPAM*** Score/Req: 05.50/5.0]  Airtel’s Sh2.1bn licence renewal fee splits CA board
From: kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
CC: hotline at cofek.co.ke
To: ggithaiga at hotmail.com

There is a major governance problem with CA board.  The CA Director General is equally disappointing on the manner he has handled the Airtel license matter, to say the least.  It is the reason COFEK released this statement earlier today:  http://www.cofek.co.ke/index.php/news-and-media/1422-let-communications-authority-shape-up-or-be-disbanded Best wisheswww.cofek.co.ke  From: kictanet [mailto:kictanet-bounces+hotline=cofek.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of Mwendwa Kivuva via kictanet
Sent: Monday, October 5, 2015 8:12 PM
To: The Consumers Federation of Kenya (Cofek) <hotline at cofek.co.ke>
Cc: Mwendwa Kivuva <Kivuva at transworldafrica.com>
Subject: [***SPAM*** Score/Req: 05.50/5.0] [kictanet] Airtel’s Sh2.1bn licence renewal fee splits CA board http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Corporate-News/Airtel-Sh2-1bn-licence-renewal-fee-splits-CA-board/-/539550/2894480/-/vvpw8s/-/index.html
Matters came to a head during the CA’s board meetings held on Monday and Tuesday last week after the Treasury and a number of non-executive board members insisted that Airtel must pay the Sh2.1 billion fee for the licence.
Telecommunications firm Airtel’s quest to get its frequency licence renewed without paying the required Sh2.1 billion fee has split the Communication Authority Kenya (CA) board, adding a new dimension to the seven months battle to get Kenya’s second-largest operator on a firm footing in the market.  
Francis Wangusi, the CA director-general, sparked the controversy with a letter he wrote to the authority’s board advising withdrawal of a demand notice the authority had sent to Airtel asking for payment of the Sh2.1 billion fee.
The advisory marked an about-turn by Mr Wangusi, who had previously insisted that Airtel pays Sh2.1 billion for a 10-year frequency spectrum licence following the expiry in February of the one it was awarded in 2000. Airtel paid a $55 million (Sh4.7 billion) fee for its initial 15-year licence.
Matters came to a head during the CA’s board meetings held on Monday and Tuesday last week after the Treasury and a number of non-executive board members insisted that Airtel must pay the Sh2.1 billion fee for the licence.
Mr Wangusi’s position is supported by CA chairman Ben Gituku and Joseph Tiampati, the principal secretary in the Ministry of Information and Communication.
Mr Wangusi reckons that the authority’s pursuit of the frequency spectrum fee from Airtel may expose the agency to court battles it stands a high chance of losing.
This, he says, is because the authority did not include the settling of initial frequency spectrum licence fees in the conditions it set for Airtel when the telecoms operator was acquiring Essar Telecom’s properties.
“Management is of the view that considering the events that have taken place thus so far based on the legal analysis, it would be more prudent to withdraw the demand for $20,025,000 from Airtel,” Mr Wangusi said in his note to the board.
If adopted, Mr Wangusi’s advisory would deny the Treasury the Sh2.1 billion it was expecting from the deal at a time when the government is in dire need of cash to meet the ever rising expenditure demands.
Safaricom last year paid Sh2.3 billion to have its licence renewed — an amount that was pegged on the Sh2.3 billion yuMobile paid in 2003 to enter Kenya as the fourth mobile operator.

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