Hello Listers,
Thank you Tony for the concern and for raising this up.
It has been an excruciating 30 days of experiencing the unfair law systems of our neighboring country.
I returned to Kenya on Friday morning, shaken and a little broken.
Please note: I am not making any comments or statements on behalf of Inventure Mobile Kenya Limited - Tala
Vodacom had been providers for both mpesa and telephony (SIP trunk) services.
The accusations by the regulator are totally preposterous and what makes it worse, is that regulators have incompetent people in place.
Long short of it;
1. Accusation is made.
2. Nine days later, the a charge is provided.
3. Day 10, the case is taken to a court that cannot listen to the case (resident magistrate court)
4. Bail can be applied for, but only at the high court.
5. Lawyers advice against bail, as the prosecution can block the judge from granting it. At this stage, we're informed that any protest will land us a Money Laundering charge, which does not have bail.
6. Day 24, Vodacom is brought into the case, with an MD who has only been confirmed 2 weeks prior.
7. Day 30, end of the whole problem as companies pay fines.
It is a travesty, where the legal systems take a company's employees as hostages to get fines for the government and regulators.
The system denies bail, because the prosecution knows it will lose the case if the hostages are released.
To make matters worse, there are plenty of innocent people being arrested and imprisoned by the system.
Every single day on local newspapers, you will be sure to find a different case of "Kuhujumu Uchumi"