Peter Ndegwa, the first Kenyan to be the CEO of the giant Telco has outdone himself by stealing an idea that is already registered with the Kenya Industrial Property Institute (KIPI). His predecessors were fond of this behaviour.
Electronic Receipt (e-Receipt) is a UTILITY MODEL that is patented for a period of time to be used while benefiting the original owner of the idea for about 10 years, that’s according to the definition.
Today, Safaricom launched M-Pesa Bill Management service which will allow schools, landlords, utilities and other businesses with repeat payments, to present and receive pending payments from customers, and issue electronic receipts.
Problem is, this idea is already registered by a company known as Kibo Capital Group Limited at KIPI.
It is not the first time Safaricom and other Kenyan corporate is stealing an idea and getting away with it. Here are some:
READ
- Abuse Of Dominance By Notorious Telco Safaricom Through Zindua Cafe
- Safaricom stole our idea to roll out M-Shwari, Faulu Kenya says
- Man Seeks Equity Bank Support To Sue Safaricom for “Stealing” Mpesa 1 Tap Idea
- Banks sucked into Sh1bn PesaLink patent row
Research by WIPO – World Intellectual Property Organisation reveals that the cases of intellectual property theft are rampant in Kenya. WIPO further observed that the innovators are hampered from pursuing legal means to challenge the theft due to financial challenges.
“We have also cases where the innovations are stolen and improved, then introduced into the market. MANY INNOVATORS LACK THE CAPACITY FOLLOW THROUGH IN COURTS SINCE THE COST IN PROHIBITIVE”, a young innovator named Macharia told Intellectual Property Watch (IP Watch) in 2017.
IP Watch also observed that in Kenya, red flags have been raised after it became evident that big companies had arrived as sponsors, ended up swindling young innovators.
“The major thieves of intellectual property are corporates; many victims are youths” – Twitter User
Kenya is a very peculiar nation where mafia rule reigns supreme.
Youths are lied to to create their own jobs through entrepreneurship by people stealing billions from public coffers through overpriced projets.
Almost every time a govt official stands up to speak about unemployment they often tell youths to employ themselves.
READ: Pesalink Scandal: Highly Overrated Slayqueen Agnes Gathaiya Steals Another Idea
Never mind that those that try to, find themselves in the same scenario as those whose intellectual properties have been stolen, others find themselves with no way to access credit from banks; some more find the cost of opening a business too high due to the many licenses required; and if one passes those three tests, then they have to face the tax hurdle from KRA; an entity which sometimes comes with a huge tax bill from the blues.
It is a tough world where the elites don’t care; they don’t feel any shame about the suffering of youths. They just pretend to.
Intellectual Property Theft has stagnated innovation in Kenya. – International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Such an unequal world cannot be changed by tweeting, although this is the first step, but by petition, peaceful assembly and demonstration, a speaking up every day.
The only problem is that the youths have been brainwashed to accept Sh528 to trend useless hashtags on Twitter in support of politicians, worse still others waste their days tweeting sexual and nudity content; some even believe that it’ll be their turn to eat when they join govt.
“The service will equally empower millions of M-Pesa PayBill customers with better record keeping by providing digital receipts for each payment,” CEO Peter Ndegwa said. Problem is, a spotcheck on kibocapital.co.ke showed the same words used in their website for a company that has been in existence since 2015. Safaricom essentially stole their idea.
As for Safaricom, it uses its huge financial muscle to muzzle all those that lodge complaints against it. Of course, there are some youths who, due to ignorance, didn’t register their intellectual properties and thus lost it to this corporate hegemony. However, some have, and I wonder how KIPI and Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO) allowed their intellectual properties to be used by non-paying corporate entities.
Worse of the mafia state came when they threatened another innovator with a ‘WANTED BY DCI’ poster. Mr Anyona Obutu, had created a way of stopping MPESA thieves from cloning SIM Cards and shared it with Safaricom but a few months later, the Telco launched it without involving him. STOLEN. See story below.
READ:
- Safaricom accused of stealing a patented idea
- Jubilee ‘System’ creates a fake DCI poster meant to intimidate bloggers
For the electronic receipt idea, Safaricom must be held accountable.
Let’s begin to be at least sincere in our dealings so that such narratives as Hustler vs Dynasty doesn’t eat us alive. Because it is in such unequal man-eat-man dealings that political conmen found leeways to inflame passions which can be very disastrous in the long run.
Stealing is a bad thing, pay people for their idea.
