The Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) on Tuesday moved to court to appeal the decision that barred it from tapping private phone conversations.
Through its lawyers, the regulator noted that Judge John Mativo created his own case by making findings that were not supported by evidence.
"The judge erred by creating his own case on behalf of Okiya Omtatah and adjudicating on it.
"The learned judge erred in law by making findings which were not supported by the evidence on record and by ignoring the uncontroverted position of the evidence adduced by the appellant in the High court," stated the CA in its appeal.
[caption caption="Judge John Mativo"]
[/caption]
In April, the High Court declared a plan by the government to tap into private phone conversations as illegal and a violation of consumer rights.
In a ruling delivered by Judge Mativo, the court maintained that the move by CA to install spy gadgets is inconsistent with the Constitution.
According to judge Mativo, the decision to tap into phone calls needed adequate public participation before implementation.
He noted that since the CA had not done so, it has been prohibited from implementing the decision or installing any connectivity through Broadband Communication Network to spy on subscribers.
However, Section 28 of the Cybercrimes Act states that where a police officer has reasonable grounds to believe that certain communications traffic data is required for the purposes of a specific criminal investigation, he may apply to the court for an order to collect or record it in real-time.
Following such an application, the court may permit the police officer to compel a service provider to collect your traffic data in real time.
[caption caption="Communications Authority of Kenya Offices"]
[/caption]
