The High Court has declined to issue interim orders stopping the Government of Kenya from proceeding with a planned sale of 15 percent of its shares in Safaricom PLC to a private foreign investor.
In directions issued on Thursday, Justice Lawrence Mugambi instead ordered that the matter be mentioned on the 23rd of this month for further directions.
The case was filed by petitioners Tony Gachoka and Prof. Fredrick Ogolla, who moved to court seeking urgent conservatory orders to block the proposed transaction.
Through Senior Counsel Kalonzo Musyoka, the petitioners urged the court to intervene immediately, arguing that allowing the sale to proceed before the case is heard would cause them and the public irreparable prejudice.
They told the court that once the shares are transferred, reversing the transaction would be difficult and could undermine public interest.
In court documents, the petitioners argue that the proposed sale raises serious concerns about national security, data sovereignty and protection of strategic national assets.
They also claim the shares are being undervalued.
According to the petition, the Government intends to sell the shares at approximately KSh 34 per share, translating to about KSh 204.3 billion.
However, the petitioners contend that the intrinsic value of the shares ranges between KSh 70 and KSh 80 each, warning that the country could suffer losses exceeding KSh 250 billion if the transaction proceeds at the proposed price.
Gachoka states in the filings that Safaricom is a critical national asset given its dominance in Kenya’s mobile telecommunications, mobile money services, e-commerce and digital financial systems.
He argues that transferring such a strategic stake to a foreign entity could expose sensitive national infrastructure and financial systems to external control.
The petition also questions the legality of the process leading to the proposed sale.
According to the applicants, the transaction is being rushed and conducted in an opaque manner that allegedly bypasses statutory safeguards under the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015 and the Privatization Act, 2025.
The High Court is now expected to give further directions on the case during the mention scheduled for later this month.
