Kenya to develop framework for sim card registration by year end

Kenya will develop a framework for new mobile phone sim card registration by the end of 2013, a senior government official said on Monday. Information Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i told journalists in Nairobi that the new legal regime will stem the abuse of mobile infrastructure by criminals. "Kenya will borrow from international best practice in sim card registration in order to manage aspects of crime and cyber security," Matiang'i said when the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) launched a service to enable taxpayers to inquire information via mobile phone. This announcement comes barely a week after the government asked all telecom companies to ensure that there are no unregistered sim cards on their network. "The country has been lax for a longtime on the strict observance of sim card registration," he said. "We want to create an orderly society in which everyone is accountable for their actions," Matiang'i said. He said that currently mobile sim cards are being sold on the streets without the proper verification of the details of the buyers. "Our studies have shown that within two hours, these sims are already operational," he said. The cabinet secretary said that under the new regulations, all sim card vendors will have to be approved by the communications regulator. "This will assist security agencies to be able to trace all mobile phones numbers," he said. Matiang'i said that the deployment of the Information Communication Technology is a critical component of Kenya's economic blueprint, Vision 2030. He noted that in the next five years, Kenya will accelerate the automation of all government functions.