Also, this had the potential of onboarding quite a few people to digital currency -- and that usage displaces mPesa usage.  Safaricom is partially owned by the government, so a non-regulated alternative to m-Pesa not only reduces government control over payments (and visibility to KRA of payment flows), lower m-Pesa usage also lessens the government's revenues.

KenyaCoin

tech

Kenya suspends crypto project Worldcoin over safety concerns

beorange

Cracking down because it's competition to the government: https://www.biometricupdate.com/202308/kenya-targets-feb-2024-for-new-digital-id-rollout-sign-up-optional

>"The Kenyan government says it plans to register all citizens for a new digital ID program by the end of this year, and the new digital ID cards will be issued from at least February 2024."