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“The issue of subscriber registration has been over-simplified by the political class and, in itself, it is not a panacea for addressing rising incidents of crime,” he said.

He drew the analogy from the registration of motor vehicles, which are often used in crimes, saying it was always the case that criminals steal vehicles and use them to commit crimes.

“In this same vein, subscriber registration will only assist the government to know who the honest citizens are and will have little or no impact in identifying criminal elements,” he said.

According to him, the government will have to find ingenious investigative methods to reduce phone-related crimes.

But the police spokesperson Eric Kiraithe said the move would enable his detectives manage crime.

“It is the way mobile telephone concept was introduced in the country that complicated the matter,” Mr Kiraithe said in an earlier interview with the Nation.

“The implementation did not factor the security question from its start.”

However, Mr Joseph told the government that it was important to understand that the support provided by telecommunications companies should not be treated as a substitute for proper investigations by the police.

“With the rising crime trends, it will be necessary for the government to invest in modern investigative techniques,” he said.

He, however, agreed that registration of SIM cards was an essential but not a legal requirement.

Such a law stipulates what information should be documented, how it is verified, how it will be managed and those entitled to access it to ensure confidentiality.