State agencies in a bind over fake phones
PHOTO | DIANA NGILA A sample of fake handsets.
What you need to know:
- The switch-off exercise conducted on October 1 denied many Kenyans unknowingly using counterfeit handsets access to local mobile networks
- Many say it is now up to the government through the Kenya Bureau of Standards and the Anti-Counterfeit Agency to ensure that consumers are not conned out of their money again
- According to the Communications Commission of Kenya director general Francis Wangusi, the government may not be able to seal all the borders against the entry of counterfeit products into the country
After blocking at least 1.4 million counterfeit mobile handsets from accessing telecommunications networks last week, the government is now turning its attention on how to keep more fake phones from from entering the country.
The switch-off exercise conducted on October 1 denied many Kenyans unknowingly using counterfeit handsets access to local mobile networks.
But many say it is now up to the government through the Kenya Bureau of Standards and the Anti-Counterfeit Agency to ensure that consumers are not conned out of their money again.
On Friday, Finance minister Njeru Githae said he had established anti-counterfeit desks at the Treasury and the Kenya Revenue Authority in the hopes of keeping fake products out of the country.
According to the minister, the government has been losing a lot of money in taxes, and keeping these products out of the country would allow bona fide manufacturers to sell more products more, thereby increasing the collection of VAT and other taxes.
But speaking to the Sunday Nation on phone, Kebs corporate communications manager Patricia Kimathi said it will be hard for the organisation to restrict the counterfeits from the market as long as they perform to set standards.
Mobile operators now want the government to step up customs surveillance to keep counterfeit products out and ensure that the country does not have to go through another similar switch-off in a few years.
“We have pledged our support to the move because it is harmful to the health of subscribers and compromises the efficiency of our network. But government surveillance agencies must pull up their socks to keep such gadgets away from the country,” Airtel Kenya chief executive Shivan Bhargava said.
But according to the Communications Commission of Kenya director general Francis Wangusi, the government may not be able to seal all the borders against the entry of counterfeit products into the country.
“We will be counting on the consumers to help curtail the spread of counterfeits now that we have already educated them on how to test whether a phone is genuine,” he said.
