Why Safaricom Deactivates Inactive Phone Numbers

1. The core reason: phone numbers are a limited public resource.

A phone number belongs to Kenya's national numbering plan, which the Communications Authority (CA) manages. You don't own your number outright. Your operator gets blocks of numbers from the CA and assigns one to you, so what you hold is a right to use it.

The supply is limited, and you can see why with simple arithmetic. A Kenyan mobile number looks like 07XX XXX XXX or 01XX XXX XXX. After the "07", only 8 digits are left, and 8 digits give 100,000,000 possible combinations. That sounds huge, but the real usable supply is much smaller:

• Numbers are handed out in blocks to Safaricom, Airtel and others, and an operator can't use another operator's block.
• Some ranges are reserved for special uses: short codes, emergency numbers, M2M/IoT SIMs.
• Many Kenyans hold two or three SIMs, so demand grows faster than the population.

The pressure is already visible. The 01 prefix was introduced around 2019 because the 07 range was filling up.

Adding more digits isn't a realistic fix either. Every phone contact list, bank system, government database and network routing table would have to change, and that would be enormously expensive and disruptive. So the cheapest way to keep supply is to reuse numbers nobody is using. This is why the CA says it must make sure assigned numbers are actually being used before it issues new ones.

Theory behind it: "use it or lose it." Regulators apply this principle to scarce shared resources such as radio spectrum, land leases and mining licences. If people can hold a resource for free forever without using it, it gets hoarded, and newcomers are locked out. Economists call this a common-pool resource problem. Reclaiming idle numbers keeps the resource circulating.

2. Why the test is "revenue-generating activity"

This is the part that confuses most people. The regulator needs a way to decide whether a number is in use, and it needs a test that is objective, measurable and the same for every operator.

Every chargeable event on a network is automatically recorded in the operator's billing system as a call detail record. That makes revenue-generating activity a reliable, auditable proxy for "this line is alive." No one has to guess or investigate; the record either exists or it doesn't.

The key misunderstanding is that "revenue-generating" does not mean you must spend money. It means the activity generates revenue for the network, not necessarily from you.

• When you receive a call or SMS, you pay nothing.
• But the sender pays their network.
• If the call comes from another network, your operator earns an interconnection (termination) fee.

So receiving an SMS from a friend counts as activity under the rules, and so does receiving a call.

The full list of qualifying activities is:

• making or receiving a call.
• sending or receiving an SMS.
• using mobile data.
• topping up airtime.
• using value-added services.

3. The operator's side: why idle numbers cost money

There are also economic reasons on the operator side. These are general industry facts, not points from your articles:

• Fees: operators pay the CA for the number blocks they hold, whether those numbers earn anything or not.
• System load: every active SIM takes up records in the network's subscriber databases and in its SIM-registration and KYC compliance systems.
• Misleading figures: dormant lines inflate "subscriber" numbers, which distorts market statistics and regulatory data.
• Unmet demand: a number locked to a dead SIM can't be sold to a new customer who wants it.

From a pure resource-efficiency view, then, recycling makes sense for both the regulator and the operators.

4. The counter-force: your number is now your identity

If efficiency were the only concern, numbers could be recycled quickly. The High Court ruling earlier in 2026 changed the balance. It held that a phone number is a constitutionally protected digital identity.

The reason is that in Kenya a number is no longer just for calling. It is tied to:

• M-Pesa and mobile banking
• one-time passwords (OTPs) for banks, apps and government services
• WhatsApp and social media accounts
• KYC records with financial institutions

If a number is recycled carelessly, the new owner could receive the old owner's OTPs, financial alerts or private messages. The court treated that as a privacy and security issue.

5. Questions Kenyans commonly ask

"Do I have to buy airtime every 3 months to keep my line?"
No. Any qualifying activity resets the clock, and receiving one SMS or call is enough.

"Will my number be cut after exactly 3 months?"
No. Three months of inactivity only flags the number. Then a 3-month notification period follows, so the total is roughly 6 months.

"How do I know if my number is at risk?"
Dial *106#. It shows whether the line is active, suspended, under recycling, or deactivated.

"Will I lose my M-Pesa money?"
According to Safaricom's M-Pesa terms, no. The account can be suspended after 90 days of SIM inactivity and later archived. The money stays with Safaricom and is released when you activate a new number. The real problem is getting it back, which is slow and paperwork-heavy. That is exactly what the parliamentary petition complains about.

"What happens to M-Pesa money when someone dies?"
The M-Pesa agreement ends automatically at death, so a relative can't just use the phone to access it. If the money ends up with the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (UFAA), beneficiaries claim it with a death certificate and proof of their legal right to the estate.

"Can the new owner see my messages or get my OTPs?"
The rules require operators to archive your data so it can't pass to the next person. As a precaution, though, you should update your number with banks, apps and government services before abandoning a line.

"I'm sick, or caring for someone who can't use their phone. What can I do?"
Request whitelisting in person, with original ID. It protects the number for one year and is renewable.

"What about people in prison?"
If someone is jailed for more than 6 months after appeals are exhausted, the Commissioner General of Prisons must submit their number for whitelisting. Suspects held on remand without bail for over 6 months are covered too.

"Why is Parliament investigating Safaricom if rules already exist?"
Rules on paper don't guarantee practice. The petitioners claim customers aren't always properly warned before deactivation, and that families struggle to recover a deceased person's funds. The committee will check whether Safaricom's actual procedures meet the CA framework.

Kenya deactivates idle numbers because numbers are a limited national resource that must keep circulating, and "revenue-generating activity" is simply the most objective, recordable evidence that someone is still using a number. The 2026 safeguards exist because that same number now carries people's money and identity.