The government is opposed to a move by a legislator to amend the law to break up the country’s biggest telecoms operator, Safaricom.
Jakoyo Midiwo, the deputy minority leader in Kenya’s national assembly, proposed amendments to the country’s communication and banking laws aimed at breaking up Safaricom, which is 40 per cent owned by Britain’s Vodafone.
But ICT CS Joe Mucheru said the move would punish operators for innovations and discourage investments.
“It will make Kenya a very unattractive destination for tech companies that want to come and innovate,” he told Reuters.
Safaricom is by far the biggest telecoms firm in Kenya. It has 26 million subscribers and dominates the thriving mobile-based financial services sector with its innovative M-Pesa platform.
Midiwo, who accuses Safaricom of offering banking services without the necessary license, aims to force the firm to run M-Pesa as a separate business from the telecoms service.
“We are not for that in any way,” Mucheru said, adding it is up to operators to decide if they want to spin off parts of their businesses.
Midiwo’s proposal will be debated and voted on by Parliament.