Kenya is calling for more resolute enforcement of SIM card registration requirements by fellow members of the East African Community (EAC) in order to promote safe use of ICT infrastructure within the region.

The country's ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru told a meeting of the East African Communications Organisation (EACO) hosted recently in Nairobi that criminals are increasingly using unregistered SIM Cards to commit crimes.

"If some countries or mobile operators do not enforce SIM card registration to the letter, criminal elements shall continue misusing unregistered SIM cards from neighboring countries to perpetrate criminal activities across our borders,''

Mucheru also expressed concern over what he described as a rise in the misuse of mobile phone devices across the region "because counterfeit devices that are denied service in one country can still find their way in networks of neighbouring countries."

''These devices, like unregistered SIM cards, are hard to track down in case of misuse for criminal purposes. EACO membership must therefore see how best to help governments deal with the menace of counterfeits. I am positive that EACO is up to the task,"

Mucheru's plea comes two weeks after the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) directed all mobile operators to deactivate unregistered or partially unregistered SIM cards within their networks.

Francis Wangusi, Director General of Kenya's Communications Authority and Chairman of EACO said he agrees that lack of an enforcement mechanisms are hampering implementation of EACO decisions at the local and regional level.