Kenyan telcos must contact subscribers for three months before recycling numbers

Kenyan mobile operators must try to contact subscribers for three months, and publish a public notice, before they deactivate and reassign an inactive number, Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) Director General David Mugonyi told Members of Parliament, Capital FM and The Star reported on 7 October 2026.

Mugonyi appeared before the National Assembly's Public Petitions Committee on Tuesday 6 October, Capital FM reported. The committee was considering a petition by Thompson Kirongo, reported to the National Assembly on 20 August, which alleges that Safaricom deactivates SIM cards after a period of inactivity, ordinarily six months, and reallocates the numbers to new subscribers without giving affected customers adequate notice, according to the National Assembly's record of that sitting. The Star said Mugonyi was appearing over Safaricom's compliance with statutory and constitutional obligations on SIM card deactivation and reassignment.

The rules are called the Procedures and Technical Safeguards for Deactivation and Recycling of Inactive Mobile Numbers, 2026. Capital FM said the CA developed them after a March 2026 High Court ruling that directed the government, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, to set up measures against arbitrary deactivation and reassignment of inactive numbers. Capital FM reported on 19 March that the judgment, delivered by Justice Lawrence Mugambi, gave the government six months, until 19 September 2026. The Star said the measures were required to be operationalised by that date.

Operators must use all the contact details in their databases that were collected during Know Your Customer (KYC) registration, Capital FM and The Star reported. They must do so for numbers inactive for more than three months, and the notification process then runs for three months before a number becomes eligible for deactivation and reassignment. The Star quoted Mugonyi as saying the procedures "require all SIM card offering service providers to use all available contacts in their databases, as collected during the know your customer (KYC) process to contact subscribers whose numbers have been detected to be inactive continuously for more than three months."

For numbers inactive for more than six months and due for deactivation, operators must issue a generic public notice with a USSD facility, Capital FM reported. Capital FM quoted Mugonyi telling the committee: "The notice includes a USSD means for all members of the public to check the status of their numbers in case they are among those affected, in cases where they may not be sure."

Subscribers, or people legally authorised to act for them, can ask for a number to be "whitelisted", which prevents recycling, if it is expected to stay inactive for more than six months because of serious illness, imprisonment or extended travel, Capital FM reported. For prisoners, the Commissioner-General of Prisons can notify operators and ask that numbers of inmates serving sentences of more than six months be protected, according to Capital FM.

When attempts to reach the subscriber fail, operators must delink and securely archive the data tied to the number, Capital FM reported. The aim is that personal information, services and data linked to the previous owner are not passed on to the person who receives the recycled number.

Kenyans.co.ke and Business Daily reported on 1 September 2026 that the CA had published a draft of the safeguards and invited public views until 11 September. Business Daily quoted the draft as saying deactivation and recycling would be triggered when a number records no revenue-generating activity, "such as making or receiving a call, sending or receiving an SMS, using data, topping up airtime or using the number for value-added services, for three months". It reported that the draft said newly issued and recycled numbers would by default not receive marketing messages from the issuing operator or third parties.

Kenyans.co.ke reported that Justice Mugambi ruled on 19 March 2026 that mobile phone numbers are part of an individual's digital identity, in a case that began with a petition by an inmate. According to Business Daily, the court said recycling numbers risked privacy breaches, as new users could gain access to residual data linked to mobile banking, messaging platforms and online accounts.