High Court: Your inactive mobile number can’t be reassigned without your consent

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While many Kenyans were preparing for the Eid al-Fitr public holiday, a landmark ruling came from the High Court on Thursday, March 19, 2026, that could change how mobile lines are handled across the country.

Justice Lawrence Mugambi ruled that an inactive mobile number cannot be reassigned to a new user without the original owner’s consent.

This means if you stop using your number for any reason—whether you’re travelling, hospitalized, or just inactive for three months—it cannot suddenly appear in someone else’s hands.

The case began with a petition by two prisoners whose numbers were deactivated while in custody. When these numbers were reassigned, sensitive messages from banks, the Kenya Revenue Authority, and eCitizen were delivered to strangers.

The court said this violated their constitutional right to privacy.

“A phone number, just like one’s ID number, is part of one’s identification and cannot be reassigned without consent,” Justice Mugambi declared.

How this affects your mobile line

The ruling requires a series of actions within six months:

• the Attorney General must put measures in place to protect inactive numbers from being reassigned without clear owner consent.
• the Kenya Prison Service and the Data Protection Commissioner must ensure prisoners’ numbers are preserved during incarceration.
• mobile users should have options to update or reactivate their lines if temporarily inactive.

Telcos including Safaricom, Airtel, and Telkom have been warned: if the framework is not ready by September 19, 2026, the reassignment of all inactive numbers must stop immediately.

A win for millions of Kenyans

For anyone who risks losing their number due to inactivity—travelers, students, hospital patients, or Kenyans abroad—this ruling ensures your number remains yours.

Although the court’s decision doesn’t involve mobile operators in the drafting of technical procedures, it marks a major step in protecting digital communication rights in Kenya.

In a country where a simple three-month pause in using a phone line could previously result in someone else taking over your number, this judgment ensures your mobile line—and the information it receives—stays under your control.