The
National Assembly committee on Energy, Communication and Information now wants
the rollout of the thin SIM technology by Equity Bank halted until an
independent audit on its use is conducted.
The
bank was given the go-ahead by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) to
start using the technology through its licensed Mobile Virtual Network
Operator, Finserve Africa Limited on Monday.
Addressing
the media on Wednesday, committee chairman Jamleck Kamau asked CA to stop the
process and allow an independent team of experts to be set up to ascertain if
use of the thin SIM will not interfere with consumer privacy.
“The
reason why we came up with this decision is because the committee is still
apprehensive of the thin SIM technology use in this country. The Standing
Orders allow Parliament to hire an independent expert to look at these kind of
things,” Kamau, who is also the Kigumo legislator, said.
The
committee maintains that Parliament has an oversight role in any matter that
involves Kenyans and should not be ignored by the authority despite it being an
independent body.
The
committee has in the meantime established an 11-member sub-committee which is
expected to receive the report from the independent experts.
When
asked what recourse they had if the process continues, Kamau said: “If CA
continues, I guess we will cross the bridge when we get there. But I think the
point is very clear, this matter is under investigation under Parliament and
for CA, if they want to continue they will have to face the consequences,”
Kamau said.
“What
we want is to engage an expert and that is why we have come up with an
11-member committee.”
Rarieda
MP Nicholas Gumbo who is expected to chair the sub-committee said there was no
reason for CA to hurry the process when there are still pending issues.
“If
it is true that the introduction of the thin SIM has the potential to
manipulate data, what protection have they put in place? This is the reason
why, we as a committee have in no uncertain terms issued our clear verdict that
the process has to be halted until we get an independent report in as far as
the protection of the public is concerned,” Gumbo emphasised.
On
September 9, the committee had suspended the move following security concerns
raised by Safaricom that would come with overlapping of the thin SIM on the
other normal SIM cards.
But
while announcing its decision on Monday, the CA board maintained that they had
done enough investigations using two private firms which approved that the thin
SIM use was safe.
The
authority had also announced plans to hire a private independent company which
will keep on checking on the hitches that may arise during the one year testing
period.
Other
licensed Mobile Virtual Network Operator by CA are Zioncell Kenya Limited and
MobilePay Limited all of which will be hosted by Airtel Kenya.
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