[kictanet] Safaricom repossessing numbers (What the heck!)

Fri Sep 4 14:39:19 EAT 2020

Apologies Brian!

I too am keen to hear what CA says.

Unfortunately this practice has existed for quite sometime now. I have
"lost" two numbers now and painstakingly delinked my personal data twice,
Safaricom was hearing none of this. Now what I have resulted doing is; my
niece in Uni has the enviable task of loading 5bob every month to my line
so that Safaricom do not sell the line to someone else - so much for
Silicon Savannah. 🚶

On the flipside, I acquired someone's line and well not very nice
conversations when people you don't know call you and accuse you of all
sorts of things.

Good Luck, you will need it!

E Njoroge Mwangi
Technology| FINTECH | Big Data

Cell +44 7539372742
Skype: Erick.mwangi

On Fri, Sep 4, 2020 at 11:49 AM Ali Hussein via kictanet <
kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

> Brian
>
> You raise very pertinent and interesting issues that are tied to Data
> Privacy and Protection. You deserve a full explanation, apology, and
> restitution from Safaricom.
>
> It will also be interesting to get comments from the CA.
>
> Regards
>
> *Ali Hussein*
>
> Digital Transformation
>
>
> Tel: +254 713 601113
>
> Twitter: @AliHKassim
>
> Skype: abu-jomo
>
> LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
> <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim>
>
>
>
>
> Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely
> mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the
> organizations that I work with.
>
>
> On Fri, Sep 4, 2020 at 1:43 PM Brian Munyao Longwe via kictanet <
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>
>> Hey Wash!
>>
>> So - Kenya passed number portability regulations some years back. If I
>> can choose to port this number to Airtel or Equitel or Telkom or any other
>> operator licensed by CA - doesn't this imply that the number is
>> inextricably linked to me?
>>
>> What does the law and other regulations and MNO licenses say about this?
>>
>> Brian
>>
>> On Fri, Sep 4, 2020 at 12:06 PM Odhiambo Washington <odhiambo at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, 4 Sep 2020 at 12:08, Brian Munyao Longwe via kictanet <
>>> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi folk,
>>>>
>>>> It's been a long time. I hope you are all well?
>>>>
>>>> So - mimi niko na issue.
>>>>
>>>> My Safaricom number 0715964281 has apparently been repossessed and sold
>>>> to someone else. The other day I opened up my Safaricom app to send some
>>>> m-pesa to my daughter as she transits through Nairobi from Malaysia and
>>>> shock on me! It displayed the name as "Beatrice Chelangat"
>>>>
>>>> As many of you know - I have been "diaspora" for a good number of years
>>>> (close to 9) and am currently based in Malawi. I went to the Kenyans in
>>>> Malawi Whatsapp group and mentioned the issue and was told that my line is
>>>> gone because I failed to top up in over 6 months. (This is very true, I
>>>> think the last time I used the line was more than 8 months ago).
>>>>
>>>> What I find surprising is that this has never been a problem in the
>>>> preceding 9+ years that I have been diaspora. My line has many times gone
>>>> more than 6,7,8 months without a topup - but always "wakes up" when I load
>>>> airtime. And m-pesa has always worked. What gives?
>>>>
>>>> I am distressed because my m-pesa, my e-Citizen, NTSA, bank accounts
>>>> and many other digital assets / identity related items are linked to this
>>>> number which I have had for the past 15+ years. My digital identity (and
>>>> that of many others in similar predicament) is at risk. How did CA allow
>>>> this kind of reappropriation to happen without an extensive process?
>>>>
>>>> I would expect that at a minimum - after the expiry of a period of
>>>> non-use, and several alerts sent to the number Safaricom (or any other
>>>> mobile operator) should publish a gazette notice listing numbers (and
>>>> associated registered persons) they want to deactivate/repossess and allow
>>>> a period (3 months?) for the owners to claim their number. At the end of
>>>> this period then admittedly no one should complain.
>>>>
>>>> Otherwise as far as I am concerned I have just been the victim of a
>>>> sim-cloning scam perpetrated by the same company that provides me with the
>>>> telecoms service!
>>>>
>>>> I would like to hear what the thoughts of the many much brighter people
>>>> than me on this group are....
>>>>
>>>> Best regards,
>>>>
>>>> Mblayo
>>>>
>>>>
>>> Hi Mblayo,
>>>
>>> Hope you are doing well in Malawi.
>>>
>>> TBH, I don't remember when or even how Safaricom introduced this change.
>>> I first heard it when I called their Customer Care.
>>> What I think you should do it look for the initial dotted lines that you
>>> signed to see if that provision was there.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Best regards,
>>> Odhiambo WASHINGTON,
>>> Nairobi,KE
>>> +254 7 3200 0004/+254 7 2274 3223
>>> "Oh, the cruft.", grep ^[^#] :-)
>>>
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> 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.
>
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