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

Wed Oct 7 09:32:47 EAT 2015

With those allowances, I'd actually work for free.

On 6 October 2015 at 15:45, Walubengo J via kictanet <
kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

> @GG,
>
> When i grow up...I really want to work for the regulator.
>
> They seem to be having all the fun, drama and the money...while some of us
> have been told to go back to class and teach coz  of no money aka 'cant
> pay, wont pay'.
>
> walu.
>
> @DG, Wangusi - I will look for you. I have to carry your lap-top in your
> next trip :-)
>
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* Grace Githaiga via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> *To:* jwalu at yahoo.com
> *Cc:* Grace Githaiga <ggithaiga at hotmail.com>
> *Sent:* Tuesday, October 6, 2015 12:04 PM
> *Subject:* Re: [kictanet] Airtel’s Sh2.1bn licence renewal fee splits CA
> board
>
> @Cofek
> It 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
> <http://www.cofek.co.ke/index.php/news-and-media/1422-let-communications-authority-shape-up-or-be-disbanded>*
>
> Best wishes
> www.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
> <http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/stocks/-/1322440/1394278/-/shkse6/-/index.html> 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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> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
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> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
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-- 
Andrea Bohnstedt <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/andreabohnstedt>
Analyst/Publisher

www.ratio-magazine.com
www.africa-assets.com
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