Safaricom PLC, led by CEO Peter Ndegwa, is once again drawing anger from Kenyans over what many describe as unfair and punishing MPESA transaction charges.
This time, the backlash started with a tweet. A user named Africanus shared a breakdown that captured what most already feel but rarely calculate.
Sending 105 shillings via MPESA costs 7 bob. Withdrawing that same 105 costs 29 bob. Altogether, the transaction takes 36 shillings. That’s 34.3 per cent of the total value. And the person who sent the money was already charged on their end.
Screenshot from Africanus X post.
“This isn’t just expensive, it’s punitive,” the tweet read. It’s now been shared thousands of times, and for good reason. This is everyday life for millions of Kenyans, most of them trying to move small amounts of money just to get through the day.
At the centre of it all is Safaricom. The company controls almost the entire mobile money market in Kenya. Competition barely exists. MPESA isn’t just dominant, it’s the default. And that has allowed the company to set prices with little challenge.
Also, it is clear that there’s no clarity from the company. There’s no cap from the regulator. People are simply told to pay, or not use the service, an impossible choice in a country where cash is disappearing and mobile money is stitched into daily life.
Over the past few months, human rights groups and activists have been raising alarms about how phone records are being accessed and used to track down government critics. Many of those critics have ended up abducted. Some return tortured. Others never come back.
In several cases, the last known signal of the victims was from their phone. Their calls were traced. Their movements triangulated. And while no official statement ever confirms it, all eyes turn to the service providers.
Safaricom denies any involvement. But the silence speaks louder than the press releases. People want to know who has access to their call logs. Who’s watching? Who’s sharing?