There was a time in Kenya, and indeed the better part of the world, where Chinese products were not known for their originality.

Inasmuch as the Chinese government and some manufacturers have worked to reverse that perception in recent years, a lot still needs to be done, mostly in the minds of their consumers outside of China.

Of course there are still tonnes of counterfeit electronic devices that find their way to the African markets from the ports of China.

So, when the Kenyan government, through the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) announced (for the third time) that they will be switching off all counterfeit handsets as of 30th September 2012, Kenyans reacted with guarded optimism.

To be fair to CCK, the public’s natural response to all government promises, threats and plans is met with lackluster passing interest.

However, quite a number of consumers have reason to worry as 10% of the country’s mobile handsets are counterfeit, according to CCK. Assuming the regulator goes ahead with the threat, this means that close to 3 million handsets could be rendered useless.

The reasons given by the commission for the switch-off has the backing of the majority of Kenyans. CCK says millions of shillings in revenue is lost owing to the influx of counterfeit handsets passing through porous (and corruptible) custom and bureau of standards officials.

Another reason given is that tracking of criminals and kidnappers will be easier after the switch-off, says the commission. Of course any measure put in place by the government to make Kenyans feel more secure is welcomed.

CCK has gone the extra mile and embarked on a massive public information campaign, complete with an autoresponder system which allows users to send their mobile phone International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number to the GSMA database, returning a validation SMS.

However, not everyone is jumping with joy at the news of CCK’s clamp-down.

Importers (or more appropriately, smugglers) could be the first to feel the heat of the government-backed policy.

A ‘Nokla’ easily passes as a genuine Nokia in the back-streets of most cities and towns in Kenya. Many Kenyans have bought ‘Samsang’ and ‘Ericson’ under the impression they were buying genuine phones.

However, another group of mainly Chinese manufacturers and importers suspect there is a plan to lock them out of the Kenyan market dominated by multinational handset manufacturers - but facing increasing competition from cheaper Chinese phones.

The manufacturers are not exactly opposed to the plan to block counterfeit phones, but the criteria used to do this. The handset makers – far smaller in size compared to the multinationals – are making genuine handsets under their less-known brand name. In a bid to save costs, they have not applied for an IMEI range from the European GSM association. It’s not a requirement for manufacturers to be registered by the association, so it’s their prerogative.

The fact that the regulator is working with the main handset manufacturers and the four mobile service providers, only feeds the sabotage claims.

Kenya is perhaps the only country in the world that has enacted a law to curb importation and use of counterfeit phones by using the IMEI system. Many countries including the UK and Latvia have laws adopting IMEI blocking in regards to phone theft, not counterfeit.

Elsewhere, in Singapore, the regulator has expressed doubts over the effectiveness of the IMEI system and does not require mobile operators to implement phone blocking based on the system.

The compliance of CCK’s directive will not come cheap. Subscribers may have to buy new handsets, operators will lose revenue as a result of the switched-off phones and the Government will experience a drop in tax collection. In Contrast, handset manufacturers will be the biggest winners of this policy as Kenyans will flock to electronic shops and dealers to buy genuine mobile phones.

Meanwhile, the Consumer Federation of Kenya (Cofek) has gone to court to stop CCK from going ahead with the September 30th deadline.The federation cites ‘breach of contract’ between customers and service providers, adding CCK has no right to switch off consumers.

Cofek also says using the IMEI system is unreliable as a method of weeding out counterfeit phones because some manufacturer’s IMEI numbers may not be in the GSMA database.

But then again, Cofek could be fronting interests of other parties that cannot openly oppose the regulator’s initiative.

So what can we do? How do we know who is genuinely concerned about the common man’s interest? There is, after all, counterfeit love.