High Court Quashes Government's Safaricom-Vodacom Stake Sale Over Concealed Information

The High Court has effectively pulled the plug on the Government's 15 percent stake in Safaricom being sold off to Vodacom Group, this is after it found the government had failed to be upfront with the public, Cabinet, and Parliament, about what was really going on with the deal.

Deal Called Out As Disguised Takeover

A three-judge bench ruled that the deal, which was signed on June 30, 2026, was dressed up as a partial sell off but in reality it was a takeover which handed Vodacom a tight grip on Safaricom.

The court delivered a pretty blunt verdict - "the partial sell off of the 15 per cent of the Government of Kenya shares in Safaricom PLC was a sham merger or acquisition and takeover of Safaricom PLC and is in direct breach of the Constitution and the law." The court made it clear that they thought the whole thing was a stitch up and as such it had no legal foundation.

The court effectively pulled the plug on the sell off by declaring it invalid, null and void, quashing all the approvals the government had managed to get, and ordering the 15 percent stake be handed back to the Government of Kenya on behalf of all the Kenyan citizens.

Ownership Structure Was A Mess

The court noted that because of the way the deal was set up Vodacom's ownership in Safaricom rose to a whopping 55 percent after buying up shares in investment vehicle Vodafone Kenya. According to the judges the government never bothered to properly disclose this key bit of information to the public, Cabinet, or Parliament - and that is simply unacceptable when it comes to transparency.

Transparency and Disclosure Snafu

The court said basically that the whole business was a mess when it came to transparency and disclosure. "The partial divestiture of the 15 per cent of the Government of Kenya shares in Safaricom PLC was riddled with hidden information about the buyer, incorrect information given, and really important stuff was just kept under wraps in violation of all that stuff about integrity and whatnot."

Big Concerns About National Security

The court has raised a lot of big concerns about national security - Safaricom does some pretty critical stuff - including election transmission systems, government payment platforms and all sorts of sensitive data about millions of Kenyan citizens.

The court basically said that even with all the regulatory controls in place, there was no guarantee that Safaricom wouldnt be subject to some foreign influence or interference - and that would be very bad news for Kenya's democratic process.

Financial Fiasco

The government had flogged the stake for a whopping Sh204.3 billion at Sh34 per share, plus an additional Sh40.2 billion from selling off future dividend rights attached to the remaining 20 percent shareholding.

But the court thought the government got it pretty wrong on the price. They said the government failed to properly shop around for a strategic investor and basically just went for the first buyer who was willing to pay. And that to the judges was an arbitrary decision. The government had argued their valuation was sound and independent but the court just did not buy it - they said the process wasnt rational and therefore the transaction was invalid.

Public Participation- a big Failing

Even though the Parliament went and held hearings in all 30 counties, you'd think they'd have made the important documents like the Share Purchase Agreement and Dividend Rights Agreement available to the public - but nope, that never happened.

"The judges agree with what the petitioners were saying - that the government basically hid all the material information and documents from the public, from the Cabinet and even the National Assembly," the judges said, basically saying that public participation needs to be the real deal, actually making a difference, not just something they go through the motions with.

"Given all the stuff we've found so far - we think there was no point in trying to get the public involved in this whole divestiture thing. It was just going through the motions & way it was done was totally against the Constitution - specifically Articles 10 and 118," the judges laid down the law.

What's next for the Government

The government has already said it was planning to appeal the decision - however, it hadn't got very far on its attempt to get the judgement put on hold while they appeal. in the end, the court told them to go back to the books, through proper channels to try get a judgement stay. That includes the Attorney General, Safaricom and Vodacom - all of whom have been told to start doing this now