The Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) Director General David Mugonyi, on Tuesday, November 5, elaborated on what would happen to mobile devices if their owners failed to comply with the new tax directives requiring mandatory reporting of all mobile devices entering the country including their International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number, to the customs department.
Mugonyi told the National Assembly’s Committee on Communication, Information, and Innovation (CII) that the system that will be utilised has been designed to send notifications to users who activate a new device without having paid applicable taxes and ultimately placing the unregistered device’s IMEI on a blacklist, preventing it from connecting to any local network until the taxes are settled.
“We want to ensure the right products are in the country, and the tax compliance aspect is strictly for that. KRA will not have access to people’s data,” Mugonyi stated.
Tetu MP Geoffrey Wandeto had concerns about how this new system would then impact mobile devices belonging to expatriates and visitors entering Kenya for short periods arguing, “How will this impact expatriates or people coming back for short visits? We need to allow for mobility of people and their devices.”
Communication Authority Director General David Mugonyi during a National Assembly committee meeting on November 5, 2024.
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National Assembly
Regarding this, Mugonyi noted that these individuals would be given a grace period, which would involve placing their devices on a temporary ‘greylist’ to allow usage without immediate tax obligations.
“This greylisting period will be formalized through public participation to ensure transparency and understanding,” he stated.
This initiative, aimed at ensuring tax compliance and device integrity also raised privacy concerns as Kenyans felt the government would be breaching their privacy by monitoring their personal transactions in a bid to track non-compliant mobile users.
However, Mugonyi told the MPs that the new directive which takes effect in January 2025, will not be tracking individual transactions as so thought by many Kenyans and will only focus on device integrity and tax compliance.
“This engagement has nothing to do with the transactions we carry out on our phones. We want to ensure the right products are in the country, and the tax compliance aspect is strictly for that. KRA will not have access to people’s data,” he clarified.
He was answering to the committee chair, Dagoretti South MP John Kiarie who asked, “The issue isn’t with registering IMEIs. What exactly are we allowing KRA to access on an individual’s phone under the guise of data protection? What can we say to Kenyans who may flee from digital transactions to avoid scrutiny? We must ensure their data remains protected.”
Edward Kisiangani, the Principal Secretary (PS) for Broadcasting, who was also present at the meeting cited the potential for international tax overlap and suggested data-sharing agreements with select countries stating, “What if that phone already has tax implications from another country? We need to explore data-sharing partnerships to avoid double taxation on imported devices,” he proposed.
Despite the government’s aim being to uphold device integrity and ensure tax compliance, MP Kiarie noted that the house would remain vigilant to ensure that Kenyans’ privacy rights were not violated.
The new mandatory reporting directive has already kicked off and will apply to all devices imported or assembled in the country beginning November 1. Devices that were already linked to mobile networks by October 31 will not be affected.
A person about to click an app on a phone.
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Canva
