Giant mobile service provider Safaricom has announced that it will continue to take part in the upcoming fresh presidential election despite claims by the opposition that it was involved in irregularities in the August polls.
The company's Chief Executive Officer Bob Collymore on Wednesday stated that the accusations made by the National Super Alliance (NASA) were unwarranted and the firm would continue to play its role in the coming election.
“Safaricom remains committed to the IEBC in line with the contract we have with them to relay the results from the KIEMs device to the IEBC server,” he said.
Opposition leader Raila Odinga alleged he had the names of six individuals at Safaricom who had intimate knowledge of this conspiracy and either actively participated or concealed the conspiracy.
“I feel pretty angry about it because my team did their job and then they got false accusations, dragging their names in the media, you actually put their lives in danger,” Collymore complained.
He added that Safaricom alongside two other operators will continue offering services to the IEBC and will not be intimidated by anyone from playing its role.
NASA, through lawyer Anthony Oluoch, wrote to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) on September 29 demanding the investigation of Safaricom staff and Jubilee Chief Agent Davis Chirchir.
In the letter,the coalition named Mr Thibaud Rerolle (French National Director Technical and IT Safaricom), Antony Gachanja (Head of Technology Security), Shaka Kwach (Head of Special Projects-in charge of elections), Robert Mutai (Head of Technology Strategy, Assurance and Governance), Farouk Gaffour (Head of Network and Services Operations) and Andrew Masila (Senior Manager, Strategy and Architecture).
Collymore stated that the move posed a threat to his team and that he would hold members of the opposition responsible if the staff or their families are harmed.
Last week the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) said there were no transmission failures by any of the mobile operators contracted to transmit results for last month’s election contrary to claims by Odinga.
[caption caption="NASA Leader Raila Odinga"]
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Responding to Odinga’s claims of alleged manipulation of election results by Safaricom, CA Director General Francis Wangusi cautioned against what he termed as “blanket lynching” of investors in the strategic sector and instead urged those aggrieved to canvass their agenda responsibly to avoid jeopardising gains made in the local ICT sector.
“We implore politicians to report any alleged election malpractices on the part of industry players to the relevant law enforcement agencies,” Wangusi said.
