Kenya: Free expression standards should guide fight against 'counterfeit' mobile phones

In a country where only 8.6 per cent of the population has access to the internet - and where freedom of information is limited by a pervasive culture of secrecy - the importance of mobile phones in Kenya extends far beyond one to one communication. In this context ARTICLE 19 is deeply concerned by the latest plans by the telecommunications regulator, the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), to deactivate all 'counterfeit' mobile phone handsets by the end of the year. 'In light of the importance of mobile phones in Kenya, penalising the consumer rather than the perpetrator of the fraud is manifestly disproportionate.'