THIS IS NOT JUST.......

The Communications Commission of Kenya, CCK has set September the 30^th as the deadline for switching off all counterfeit mobile phones. We are only days away from this bitter reality, when at least 2.5 million users will go off air.                                                                              

This move by the government may be laudable and meant to cut down on the influx of counterfeit and cheap items in the Kenyan market, but should the consumer be used as the sacrificial lamb? Does the ordinary Kenyan have to pay for the greed of some money-thirsty people hell-bend on making a quick buck? Does the taxpayer have to pay for the laxity and apparent inability and lack of goodwill by government apparatus to clamp down on merchants of counterfeits?

We are not protesting this move by the CCK but it would be better to control all this mess instead of letting it spill to the ordinary Kenyans. Kenyans may have a penchant for cheap things just like any other person, but the government should ensure that these counterfeit phones among other items do not find their way into the Kenyan market. Otherwise, how do you explain it when stalls are selling these counterfeit phones within the central business district? The government slept on its job and sadly, the ordinary mwananchi is paying for this.

Let CCK switch off these counterfeit phones but it is grossly unfair to the innocent buyer who saw the cheap phone in some stall and bought it!