NAIROBI, Kenya
Alex Wambua, a security guard working for a private company clutches onto his dead phone perharps still hoping that one day he will wake up and find his treasured device thathas been rendered useless by the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) flickering back to life. Wambua is yet to understand why the Kenyan government switched off his phone and not even a brief explanation we give him over the government’s step reduces his anger.
“I am not planning to throw away this phone. I bought it only six months ago, and it cost me 5,300 shillings. The government expects me to throw it away?” he said with full of anger. Wambua is among other Kenyans who are still holding onto their dead phones hoping they will flicker once again and give them a chance to get connected. Wambua’s colleague, Kilonzi Kitoto, standing guard at International Life House in Nairobi, is suffering a similar fate.
His was also switched off after the grace period given by the government lapsed. He has no money to buy a new and genuine cell phone and since then, he has been out of reach. He said the last 10 days has been the most difficult in his life since he cannot call his wife back at home to know if all is well and if his first born son is preparing for the forthcoming national examinations.
“We always budget for our money, so it is hard just to wake up one day and decide to buy a new phone. And where does the government want us to take these phones? Throw them away?” said Kitoto. Wambua, however, admitted they had read in newspapers that the government was going to switch off all fake phones but took it for granted. Kitoto on his part said he thought the directive would only affect those buying new phones.
“I thought since some of us had already acquired them, we would be spared since we didn’t know. That was quite unfair to us and the government should have prevented these phones from getting here if it didn’t want us to buy them,” said Kitoto. Many other Kenyans have been caught up in this dilemma that is also proving a headache to the government equally. Fears are looming of build-up of electronic wastes ahead of migration to digital broadcasting platform and amid the recent switch-off of counterfeit mobile phones.
Revelations that porous borders and distribution chains are still insecure coupled with unpreparedness by National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), make matters even graver. With close to 3 million phones switched off one week ago, their disposal mechanism remains a puzzle that is yet to be solved. Kenya’s Communication regulator, the CCK, has however hinted that phone manufacturers, anti- counterfeit agency and NEMA are up in arms to seek ways to tame the menace.
The timetable of the operation has remained under the carpet. Nokia and Samsung have already set up collection centers for the fake devices in what appears to be short term campaigns strategy to cash in on the clampdown of the fake devices. The two are on a sales promotion campaign aiming at retaining their customer base. CCK Director General Francis Wangusi said the switched-off handsets should not stir worry on build-up of e-waste to alarming levels. “Three million devices should not be hyped, they constitute less to overall e-waste disposed in the country annually,” he said.
Earlier in the month, NEMA revealed it is still insufficient in taming e-waste as well as mounting fears of health risks associated with disposal of the waste. Wangusi said CCK has also urged NEMA to come up with a general framework on the operations to tame the e-waste menace. Even as the dust will settle on the heated debate on how to handle the handset e-waste, another huge tone of electronic waste is eminent when the switch to digital broadcasting will be finally effected soon. The big migration is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Even as the exact date to the shift from analogue broadcasting in the country remains uncertain, the international deadline is just two years closer.
The migration has been marred by inability to provide consumers with affordable set top boxes. Kenya recently was recorded as having over 10 million analogue televisions more than 730,000 it had a decade ago. All these will be disposed as their demand plummets with rising demand on digital TV. But NEMA is not working as fast to keep track with the fast paced information communication technology to tame the heaping of e-waste. New innovations in the sector have perpetrated impulse buying, forcing obsolescence of ICT equipment like computers, mobile phones and refrigerators as consumers keep with changing trends.
All these contribute to over 3,000 tonnes of e-waste generated into the country annually. But within the next two years the build-up is projected to rise with recent persistent development in the sector. Though the European union has adopted new rules on e-waste that hinders its member countries to illegally export the waste, its effect on Africa seems far-fetched. According to UNEP, The new EU directive aims to improve collection schemes in member states, where consumers can return used electronic and electrical items free of charge, thereby increasing the recycling and re-use of products and materials. (Xinhua)
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