Senators in Kenya have expressed worries over the growing strength of the country’s leading telecoms firm, Safaricom, warning that it is too big for the competition and giving the impression that there is no level playing ground in the country’s telecoms industry. To this end, they believe that Safaricom should split into two firms – Mobile Services and M-PESA. According to The Star, a split would see the mobile telephony service regulated by the Communication Authority of Kenya (CAK) and the M-Pesa division regulated by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).

The Senators believe there should be a level playing ground for the likes of Telkom and Airtel Kenya who operate at the mercy of Safaricom as they owe it billions of shillings. “The market is not competitive any more. The other operators should be allowed to operate, by giving the dominant operator its right, but also allowing the others to operate, and allow innovation in the country,” says Senator Petronilla Were of the ICT committee.

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Senator Irungu Kang’ata echoed this sentiment, saying “in Kenya, you have a situation where one single player dictates how much you are going to pay for data bundles, for calls and Short Message Service because it controls almost 90 per cent of the market”. 

“In such a situation, I do not foresee any other entity growing. We are not going to create more jobs and innovation in that industry because of the dominance of one entity.”

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Senator Enock Wambua urged Safaricom to confirm whether it is a communication company or a banking institution. “I would suggest that Safaricom is split into two. Safaricom the communication company, regulated by the Communication Authority of Kenya (CAK), and the M-Pesa division regulated by the Central Bank of Kenya.”

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry