Kenyans have one day to register their SIM cards if telcos adhere to the deadline set for switching off SIM cards.

Safaricom, Airtel Kenya and Telkom had set Saturday, October 15, 2022, as the deadline for SIM card registration.

This comes after the Communication Authority (CA) on April 14, extended the SIM registration deadline to October 15, 2022, to allow more time for network operators and subscribers to comply with the directive.

The regulator had earlier set a deadline of April 15 for the exercise.

Subscribers who will not have registered their lines with their respective service providers tomorrow will face disconnection.

As a precondition of the registration, subscribers must submit to have their photographs taken, processed and retained.

They must also provide a signature and disclose whether they have other lines registered to them, failure to which, their unregistered cards will be switched off.

On Thursday, MPs called on CA to postpone its planned deactivation of all unregistered SIM cards until the current drought situation is over.

MPs from drought-stricken areas argued that SIM cards were the last lifeline for families who receive cash transfers and other stipends from the government and donors.

Led by Naomi Waqo, Marsabit Woman Representative said that families will be affected if the CA and the telecommunication operators switch off the unregistered mobile numbers.

As of August 30, 2022, 15 million mobile subscribers had not registered their SIM cards.

With 17.04 million subscribers, Airtel Kenya was still waiting for some 4.65 million customers to register their lines with 72.7 per cent having done so.

For Safaricom, 80.7 per cent of its 42.53 million subscribers had registered their SIM cards as of August 30, 2022, with some 8.2 million yet to do so.

Telkom Kenya had the least SIM card registration ratio among the three leading telcos, noting it had registered only 1.24 million out of its 3.42 million subscribers by the end of August.