Safaricom has been ordered by a Mombasa Court to switch off a SIM Card purportedly registered by a woman who claims she does not own the card. Eunice Wanjiru Mburu claimed that the wrong registration has denied her access to loans by financial institutions, as it is listed on CRB. In her claim, she reports wrong use of her personal details including her ID Card to purchase the Safaricom SIM Card.
Eunice has thus sued Safaricom and Metropol Credit Bureau seeking compensation for general damages. According to documents presented to the Court, in August 2020, Mburu had sought a loan from her employer, a banking institution, to take health insurance cover for her infant. She also wanted to boost her transport business. The loan application was declined after her employer told her she was adversely listed by CRB as a defaulter after failing to pay a loan from Family Bank’s PesaPap. It was Ksh. 4,500 and had gained accumulated interests of up to Ksh. 5,386.
According to a statement by Safaricom, the contact had been receiving funds from various individuals, a clear indication that the number might have been used in conning unsuspecting Kenyans.
Mburu said she approached Family Bank in a quest to be delisted from CRB but she was required to repay the loan first.
She was later issued with incomplete statements and the name of the account holder was omitted, she said.
“A closer look at the statement showed the user of the Sim card [was in the name of a] Nixon but financial transactions were under my name, hence proving mischief,” she said.
Having failed to clear her name with all parties, Mburu said she repaid the loan to get credit clearance. She has accused Safaricom of breaching her right to confidentiality, security and consumer protections.
The next hearing date is August 17.