I know Safaricom has an option for users to stop subscriptions ( *456*9*5#* ) for services they never signed up for.... but thatโs not enough.
They must be more innovative.
Kenyans are being spammed daily by betting companies and random promotions.
The root of the problem is that almost everywhere you go, offices demand your phone number. Then rogue staff from those offices collect and sell those numbers to spammers.
Someone told me yesterday... โBut you entered your number somewhere.โ What does that even mean? Does that give strangers the right to flood me with hundreds of messages?
Safaricom must strictly gate anyone sending messages in bulk.
No one should ever receive a message unless they deliberately subscribed.
There should be clear layers of consent....
1. I opt in explicitly.
2. I know the sender.
3. I see upfront how many messages they will send me.
If a company wants to send promotions, they should not hide behind random short codes. They must be transparent.
Right now, even if I have never gambled in my life, I receive gambling spam. Thatโs unacceptable.
With modern AI tools, Safaricom could easily detect and stop these rogue senders after they implement the above ideas and some try to evade..... Other countries already enforce this...
In the EU, under GDPR, unsolicited texts without consent are illegal and fined heavily.
In the US, the TCPA requires express consent before promotional texts.
In India, the Do Not Disturb (DND) registry lets users block all marketing SMS unless explicitly opted in.
Kenya deserves the same. If itโs not in my premium subscription or an opt-in, I should receive zero spam messages.
My tweets arenโt complaints but a challenge to Safaricom be innovative enough to protect their customers.
Men can stay up til 2 a.m., wake up at 6, be in debt, broke, alone, and still have faith that one day, everything will work out. It's called being a man.