High Court Stops Planned Sale of Government’s Safaricom Stake to Vodacom

The High Court has issued conservatory orders temporarily blocking the government’s planned sale of its 15 per cent stake in Safaricom PLC to Vodacom Group pending the hearing and determination of a constitutional petition challenging the transaction.

A three-judge bench comprising Justices Francis Gikonyo, Roselyne Aburili and Tabitha Ouya ruled that the proposed sale raises substantial constitutional and public interest issues that require full judicial scrutiny before any transaction can proceed.

In their ruling, the judges said the petition touches on critical concerns including transparency in the disposal of public assets, economic sovereignty, and the protection of citizens’ data privacy.

The court directed all respondents in the case to immediately halt any further steps relating to the proposed sale until the petition is heard and determined.

Petitioners in the case allege that the government’s stake in Safaricom had been significantly undervalued by more than KSh250 billion, potentially exposing taxpayers to massive losses if the transaction proceeded.

The petition further argues that Safaricom is a strategic national asset whose ownership structure carries significant economic and security implications due to the company’s dominance in Kenya’s telecommunications and mobile money sectors.

Safaricom, partly owned by the Kenyan government, is the operator of the widely used M-Pesa mobile money platform, which supports millions of transactions daily across the country.

The court’s intervention now places the proposed transaction on hold as parties prepare for a full hearing of the constitutional petition.

The ruling comes amid growing political and public debate over the ownership and control of key state-linked assets, with critics warning against the sale of strategic national investments without adequate public participation and transparency.