Wrap-Up: Our pick of main stories, Monday July 13th, 2015

Nairobi County Governor, Evans Kidero.
Safaricom trashes proposed Market Dominance Regulations…. Wikileaks: Hacking Team declined Kenya govt’s request to bring down KahawaTungu blog…… Infinix Mobility launches new handsets in Kenya…. IBM booted out of Kenya Security Project, NEC picked…and much more.

Safaricom trashes proposed Market Dominance Regulations

Safaricom has trashed the proposed regulations on Market Dominance stating that they seek to punish any operator with significant market share without examining whether the operator is actually abusing that dominance, a practice which the MNO terms as totally inconsistent with international practice and meant to punish innovation and deter continued investment. The company, which controls about 68 per cent market share compared to Airtel’s 23 per cent, said the draft regulations are inconsistent with the Competition Act of 2010 and international best practices.

Wikileaks: Hacking Team declined Kenya govt’s request to bring down KahawaTungu blog

Italy-based surveillance malware vendor Hacking Team in May this year declined a request from the Kenya government to deface or bring down KahawaTungu blog, according to new emails released by whistleblower site WikiLeaks. The leaked emails, according to WikiLeaks, are part of “more than 1 million searchable emails from the Italian surveillance malware vendor Hacking Team, which first came under international scrutiny after WikiLeaks publication of the SpyFiles and which show the inner workings of the controversial global surveillance industry”.

Infinix Mobility launches new handsets in Kenya

Infinix Mobility and online store jumia.co.ke have today launched a premium smartphone device – Infinix X509 (Zero2) into the Kenyan market. Coming in the wake of a launch of the revolutionary Infinix Hot Note (X551), which continues to gain popularity among users owing to its long – lasting battery, the Infinix Zero2 (X509) promises an even better experience, coupled with a classy design that connotes style and class.

IBM booted out of Kenya Security Project, NEC picked

IT services major was reportedly thrown out of the government’s Police Security Network where it was supposed to provide back office analytics of data collected from the network including photographs of people, number plates, premises and so on. The network is being built at a cost of Kshs 14.9 billion by Safaricom and is set for handover to the government in November.

Kidero fires troubled County finance chief Jimmy Kiamba

Nairobi County Government’s Chief Finance Officer Jimmy Kiamba has been sacked with immediate effect for his alleged involvement in the loss of Sh94 million in an irregular ICT contract. The dismissal was contained in a letter signed by the acting County Secretary Gregory Mwakanongo who stated that the termination was due to Kiamba’s willful neglect of his duties and responsibilities. “Please refer to your contract of employment with the Nairobi County Government. Also refer to our show cause letter to you dated 3rd July, 2015 and your response thereto. The County Government has considered you responses to the issues raised at great length and has found these responses to be grossly unsatisfactory,” he said.