No room for fake Nokia handsets in Kenya

The Kenya government on Tuesday was asked to step up its move to stop counterfeit mobile phones into the country, speaking in Nairobi the Nokia general manager for east and southern Africa Mr. Kenneth Oyolla said that plans have been set to work with the government and help stop mobile phone counterfeit market in the country.

"we are calling for continuous training of law enforcers to help save Kenya billions of shillings annually and help customers get value for their money in the future" he added.

Each year, the government looses billions of shillings from counterfeit goods according to a report by the IACC. Fake products manufactures find lots of opportunity in poor countries where most people can't afford a nice original phone. maybe this is also a time for the government to reduce the tax on some of the important gadgets to discourage illegal trade.

What makes it more difficult is that the phones sometimes come under a registered legit company from abroad and they are sold everywhere without any restrictions from the law enforcement.

Fake phones especially Nokia have been on the rise in Kenya, being made as close to original as possible, making it even harder for the retailers to recognize them.