Unregistered SIM cards in Kenya will be deactivated by April 15, 2022.
Communications Authority (CA) has already ordered a clean-up procedure as the state consolidates efforts to improve data accuracy.
The move will be the third of its kind in the country with the previous once have been done in 2012 and 2018.
”This has been an ongoing process over the last few years, the planned switch-off follows an audit that has unearthed loopholes in adherence to SIM card registration laws by mobile network operators,” said CA.
Those with cards dating ten years back are being urged to visit their service providers for an update.
“There is no need to protect consumers and the general public from criminal elements who exploit the void in SIM registration. Many people have fallen prey to fraudsters,” CA said in a statement.
The data clean-up exercise in 2012 saw 80 percent of SIM cards registered with six million that had not been properly documented blocked.
Communications Authority accused some operators of negligence because of contradictory interests.
According to the data from CA, about 59 million mobile phone devices were connected to mobile networks in the country.
