As of next January, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) will implement a policy of general control of mobile telephony in the country, but what is absolutely unprecedented is that this will also apply to tourists arriving with their mobile phones from abroad, for a holiday.
According to the directive announced by the KRA on Tuesday, from 1 January 2025, passengers entering Kenya will have to declare the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) numbers of all mobile devices they intend to use while in the country. This is in order to control the entry of mobile phones into the domestic market. In fact, importers will also be required to submit detailed import records, including exact quantities, full model descriptions and IMEI numbers for each mobile device.
‘Device assemblers and manufacturers must register on the KRA customs portal and report all devices assembled for the local market, along with their respective IMEI numbers,’ the KRA said.
The government's idea is to create a database that keeps up-to-date the numbers of all mobile devices in the territory.

This measure goes hand in hand with the request made by the KRA to the banks in Kenya a week ago, asking to be able to check the movements of mobile phone accounts, and so conversely, the phone companies were asked to provide the relevant movements of Mpesa accounts.
It was called a mass ‘digital surveillance’ programme, sold as a solution to make revenue collection more effective. The KRA started by issuing a directive to commercial bank directors asking them to facilitate the integration of their networks with the iTax platform.
The court's decision will hang on the latter, as bankers' associations and companies announce petitions.  In fact, the Kenya Bankers Association has reserved the right to assess the implications of the directive and the impact it will have on their operations and credibility with account holders.