NAIROBI, Kenya Feb 13 – Residents of Kiambu County have raised concerns about data security following the proposed partial divestiture of the Government of Kenya’s shares in Safaricom Plc.
This was during a Public Participation exercise conducted jointly by the National Assembly Committees on Finance, National Planning, and Public Debt and Privatization to gather views on Sessional Paper No. 3 of 2025.
According to the residents, Safaricom Plc is the custodian of all personal data, and if the proposed sale proceeds, a foreign company will have access to it, misuse it, and use it to profile individuals.
“The most important asset is data, and we are aware that Safaricom has data on everyone in Kenya. We now want to give that away to a foreign company. If this sale proceeds, Vodacom Group will hold 55 percent of Safaricom’s shareholding. What assurance do I have that my data will not be used to profile me?” Reuben Gitahi told the Members, led by Stanley Muthama (Lamu West).
Obadiah Barongo (Bomachoge Borabu MP), while responding to the concern, disclosed that the Government has and continues to exercise its regulatory function through the Communication Authority of Kenya, further stating that if the new beneficiary of the shares attempts to misuse the acquired data, it will deploy its regulatory powers.
“We have an independent office on data protection, which will supervise and protect the use of our data. Remember, the government does not have any shareholdings with Airtel, which equally has access to our data, but because of the data protection office, we are assured of our data being in safe hands,” Barongo said.
The residents also had issues with the procurement process, asking how Vodacom Group arrived at being the buyer of the proposed shares.
According to Leah Mburu, if the proposal goes through, boardroom powers will be given to a foreign company that will take a large share of Safaricom’s profits back to its home country, leaving Kenya with nothing.
Mburu further questioned why Safaricom shares were settled on to raise the needed funds for infrastructure, “Do you go sell a performing asset or do you look for the non-performing one? Why sell Safaricom, which is paying the Kenyan Government a lot of taxes?”
The locals also called on the government to sell the shares to Kenyans if it must go ahead with the proposed divestiture.
“Did we get other bidding offers? And if the proposal must go ahead, is selling shares to Kenyans an option? Why do we want to lose control to a foreign company? Let Kenyans buy the shares and have the profits circulating in our economy,” David Kiwara said.
The Public Participation exercise, which is taking place across 30 counties, continues with the sub-Committee expected to engage Taita Taveta and Mombasa County residents on Wednesday and Friday this week, respectively.