Safaricom repossessing numbers (What the heck!)

Hi Brian and Listers:

That’s odd but understandable. Have had my Safcom for the 20 years I have
been Washington DC Diaspora and yes there are times I have been gone for
several months fortunately not YEARS at a go!

So the secret is just loading enough airtime and doing one small
transaction like buying airtime once a month!

I did however have a shocking one with my Telkom Kenya line I have used for
18 months 0770722018 just rudely assigned to someone else yet I was MOSTLY
in Kenya and used this LINE DAILY as the BETTER MORE AFFORDABLE OPTION!

Our Telcos can be RIDICULOUS in “FOLLOWING” set out regulations in a VERY
SELECTIVE MANNER!

My SAFCOM MY MAISHA MY IDENTITY! I feel for you Ndugu Longwe, That one
fight it out hata kama ni KORTINI!

My two cents take on the matter!

Baraka,
Maria

On Friday, September 4, 2020, Brian Munyao Longwe via kictanet <
[email protected]> wrote:

> Hi folk,
>
> It\’s been a long time. I hope you are all well?
>
> So – mimi niko na issue.
>
> My Safaricom number 0715964281 has apparently been repossessed and sold to
> someone else. The other day I opened up my Safaricom app to send some
> m-pesa to my daughter as she transits through Nairobi from Malaysia and
> shock on me! It displayed the name as \”Beatrice Chelangat\”
>
> As many of you know – I have been \”diaspora\” for a good number of years
> (close to 9) and am currently based in Malawi. I went to the Kenyans in
> Malawi Whatsapp group and mentioned the issue and was told that my line is
> gone because I failed to top up in over 6 months. (This is very true, I
> think the last time I used the line was more than 8 months ago).
>
> What I find surprising is that this has never been a problem in the
> preceding 9+ years that I have been diaspora. My line has many times gone
> more than 6,7,8 months without a topup – but always \”wakes up\” when I load
> airtime. And m-pesa has always worked. What gives?
>
> I am distressed because my m-pesa, my e-Citizen, NTSA, bank accounts and
> many other digital assets / identity related items are linked to this
> number which I have had for the past 15+ years. My digital identity (and
> that of many others in similar predicament) is at risk. How did CA allow
> this kind of reappropriation to happen without an extensive process?
>
> I would expect that at a minimum – after the expiry of a period of
> non-use, and several alerts sent to the number Safaricom (or any other
> mobile operator) should publish a gazette notice listing numbers (and
> associated registered persons) they want to deactivate/repossess and allow
> a period (3 months?) for the owners to claim their number. At the end of
> this period then admittedly no one should complain.
>
> Otherwise as far as I am concerned I have just been the victim of a
> sim-cloning scam perpetrated by the same company that provides me with the
> telecoms service!
>
> I would like to hear what the thoughts of the many much brighter people
> than me on this group are….
>
> Best regards,
>
> Mblayo
>
>
>