{"id":145725,"date":"2026-07-04T11:02:50","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T11:02:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/mbadi-defends-safaricom-stake-sale-says-proceeds-will-fund-infrastructure-not-budget\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T11:02:50","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T11:02:50","slug":"mbadi-defends-safaricom-stake-sale-says-proceeds-will-fund-infrastructure-not-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/mbadi-defends-safaricom-stake-sale-says-proceeds-will-fund-infrastructure-not-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"Mbadi defends Safaricom stake sale, says proceeds will fund infrastructure, not budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

KISUMU, Kenya, Jul 4 \u2014 Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has defended the government\u2019s partial sale of its stake in Safaricom, insisting the transaction was lawful, transparent and intended to finance critical infrastructure projects rather than plug budget deficits.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking in Kisumu on Saturday, Mbadi dismissed criticism from the opposition, saying the divestiture was a deliberate policy decision undertaken in accordance with the law after the Court of Appeal lifted conservatory orders that had temporarily halted the transaction.<\/p>\n

He said although the substantive case remains pending before the High Court, the government acted within the law and would abide by the court\u2019s final determination.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe action that the government took is actually in sync and in compliance with the principles of respect for the rule of law,\u201d Mbadi said.<\/p>\n

The Cabinet Secretary rejected claims by opposition leaders led by Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka that the government rushed the sale or failed to involve the public, insisting the proposal underwent extensive public participation before receiving parliamentary approval.<\/p>\n

Mbadi said he personally conducted public engagement forums across several regions before Parliament considered the proposal, adding that the National Assembly also carried out its own consultations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI personally took the initiative to conduct extensive public participation even before Parliament undertook the same,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He stressed that proceeds from the transaction would be channelled into the National Infrastructure Fund to finance strategic development projects, including roads, energy, irrigation and the expansion of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, rather than recurrent government expenditure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe money is not going to be used for general budgetary support. We are investing that money. We are converting it into another public asset,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mbadi defended the decision to reduce the State\u2019s shareholding in Safaricom, arguing that the government had already become a minority shareholder and should focus on creating an enabling environment for private enterprise instead of owning commercial businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government has no business in being in business. Business is for private people. We provide the environment for them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He also dismissed suggestions that the government should have retained the shares to continue earning dividends, saying such an approach would delay urgently needed infrastructure investments at a time when Kenya faces significant debt servicing obligations.<\/p>\n

Mbadi said the National Infrastructure Fund would soon become operational, with the appointment of its board and recruitment of a chief executive expected in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

He accused the opposition of politicising an economic policy decision and attempting to undermine investor confidence by challenging the transaction in public while the matter remains before the courts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are political scavengers looking for any opportunity to make government look bad, but Kenyans are now more intelligent and are telling them, \u2018Please come with facts and come with alternatives,’\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mbadi maintained that the government would continue implementing the policy while respecting the ongoing judicial process.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KISUMU, Kenya, Jul 4 \u2014 Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has defended the government\u2019s partial sale of its stake in Safaricom, insisting the transaction was lawful, transparent and intended to finance critical infrastructure projects rather than plug budget deficits. Speaking in Kisumu on Saturday, Mbadi dismissed criticism from the opposition, saying the divestiture was a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145725\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}