NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Pressure is mounting on the Consumer Federation of Kenya ( Cofek) to stop opposing the award of licences to Equity Bank and two other Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) and support the venture.

The consumer body has been on the receiving end, especially on social media, over claims it was doing a hatchet job for some existing operators after it challenged the award of the licences in court. But the federation’s secretary general, Mr Stephen Mutoro said they would stand firm.

“Some people have accused us of working for Safaricom, but this is not the case. We don’t want to get carried away by people calling us names. We want it to be clear that we don’t oppose the licensing of the new MVNOs, but the process through which it was done. We felt it was not procedural, for example, to issue the licences before consumers are educated about the implications,” he said.