Kenyan ICT Minister Joe Mucheru said it’s up to telecom operator Safaricom, not the government, to decide whether or not to use Huawei equipment. Mucheru once again asserted his country’s sovereignty in the decision over which technology provider to use for telecom equipment and said there are no plans to stop or delay Kenya’s 5G rollout. “I have not seen any letter or document about stopping the project and we cannot stop even if we are asked to do so. We are an independent country,” he said in an interview with the Business Daily newspaper.

The minister’s comments are no doubt a setback for the United States. After the UK and France’s decision to ban Huawei from their networks, Washington claimed that “momentum” is building against the Chinese company.