Vice chair of the Kenya Livestock Marketing Council Dubat Amey has hailed Safaricom mobile phone service provider for restoring communication masts destroyed by Al-Shabaab militants in Ijara, Holugho, Sangailu and parts of Fafi in Garissa.
Speaking to KNA in Garissa town Monday, Amey said that although it had taken a while, residents could finally enjoy the service.
Safaricom customers were forced to travel for kilometres to access Safaricom mobile phone service, the only telecommunication network serving the area.
In welcoming the restoration, Amey said as elders from the area, they were ready to support the government in ensuring peace prevailed in the affected areas.
“The destruction of the communication masts had crippled crucial services such as mobile money transfer, businesses and free flow of information,” Amey said.
“The main aim of the Al-Shabaab is to cut off communication in the area so that peace loving residents cannot volunteer information about their heinous plans,” he added.
“We are happy that Safaricom network has resumed. We can now do business and also reopen M-Pesa shops that were closed following the destruction of the masts,” he said.
Administration police officers from the Rapid Deployment Unit have been manning the Safaricom mast in Ijara town since it was restored.
Speaking separately on phone, North Eastern Regional Commissioner Mohamed Birik said all telecommunication masts across the region would be under tight security because they have become vulnerable to attacks.
“We will not take chances this time round. We want to make sure that we protect all the masts wherever they have been erected in the region. This is because they also assist in maintaining security,” he said.
In 2017, Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore said the company was incurring huge losses running into millions of shillings in reconstructing the damaged masts.

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