Kenyans were thrown into frustration on Tuesday after Safaricom PLC’s Mshwari service went offline for hours, blocking withdrawals, deposits and emergency transactions without warning.
The outage left thousands stranded as they tried to access money locked in the digital service. Many accused the telecom giant of incompetence and poor planning.
Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa speaks during a past event. Photo: KTN News Source: X
One Kenyan wrote on X, “I swear when Mshwari is back online I’m moving everything. This is rubbish Safaricom PLC.”
Others demanded immediate access to their funds after failing multiple attempts.
Many said the blackout embarrassed a company of Safaricom PLC’s size.
Another user posted, “Safaricom PLC can you guys resolve your Mshwari issue so that we can withdraw all our money from your useless and inconvenient app.”
Kenyans questioned why a major platform would run daytime maintenance without public notice.
Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa. Photo: The Star Source: Facebook
They also wondered how CEO Peter Ndegwa could allow the failures to keep recurring.
The frustration grew as more users encountered error messages while trying to transact.
People stuck in shops and matatus said they were unable to pay because their money was locked inside Mshwari.
One angry Kenyan wrote, “Safaricom is becoming such a shitty company, Mshwari under maintenance again?? Safaricom PLC mnaboo sana… I’m done with you guys.”
Digital traders said the outage cost them sales as customers could not complete payments.
A Safaricom PLC logo. Photo: The Star Source: Facebook
Others said they lost clients who assumed they were ignoring orders.
Another user posted, “For the past 3 weeks this is the 4th. We can’t be waiting 6–7 hours to withdraw funds. What about emergencies? This sucks.”
Many argued that a multi-billion company should not run a fragile system that collapses so often.
Others questioned whether Safaricom PLC still understands its responsibility as a financial gatekeeper.
Safaricom PLC later issued a statement saying, “Mshwari services are currently unavailable due to an outage.
Our partner NCBA Bank is working closely with us to resolve the issue and restore the services as soon as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
But many Kenyans dismissed the apology as copy-paste damage control.
They insisted they needed solutions, not statements.
Several users warned they would migrate to rival digital lenders if Safaricom PLC cannot guarantee stability going forward.
By evening, frustration still dominated online spaces.