Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro addressing journalists in his office at KICC in Nairobi on March 18, 2025 about development activities in his constituency.
Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro now wants the government to open to competitive bidding the proposed sale of 15 percent stake at Safaricom, even as he maintained the country risks losing more than Sh150 billion should the sale continue in the current form.
Mr Nyoro questioned the process used to arrive at the current valuation and the valuation method employed, as he alleged that the current valuation of the Safaricom shares at market price is Sh150 billion less than it should be.
He raised concerns that Safaricom’s share price could have been artificially suppressed or manipulated months before the start of the proposed sale, given that the market price was being treated as the key consideration.
“There was a recent immobilisation of 16 billion Safaricom shares by the buyer in June of 2025. Have there been trades of those shares?” he posed.
Mr Nyoro stressed that the only way to have Kenyans realise the best value for the shares is to avoid selling a strategic asset for a song.
“Right now, Kenya Power’s market value is Sh29 billion but if we care about Kenyans, can the government sell it at even double that valuation?”
The lawmaker at the same time challenged the National Treasury to disclose the identities of dealers involved in the negotiation for the sale of the government’s stake if the transaction is above board, as it is reported.
Valuation gap
Appearing before a joint committee of the National Assembly on Tuesday, the Kiharu legislator said there are two options that the government should embrace to ensure Kenyans get the best value for its strategic asset, which he maintains is grossly undervalued.
The MP said the first option is for the government to open the bidding to the international market, including even listing the Telco at the London Stock Exchange, in order to attract other investors apart from Vodafone, hence unlocking its value.
“We have the option of listing Safaricom PLC in a global and mature market like the London Stock Exchange to give it required global visibility before opening international bidding. Many bidders will come and we will take the best in terms of value,” said Mr Nyoro.
Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro makes his remarks during the launch of the 5th Edition of the Annual National Shadow Budget 2025/26 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on April 15, 2025.
“Why can’t we be patient for just two months and get more value for this asset? We lose nothing by doing so,” he added.
He explained that the other option involves causing a demerger by breaking down Safaricom into three separate entities – a Telco, Fintech and tower business – before selling the shares.
“The total of three entities will be valued much higher than one as a whole. Why the rush to sell our most prized asset at a discount?” he posed.
“I am a proponent of privatisation but Kenya must get the right value for its assets. It will be a tragedy to Kenyans to undervalue this asset based on the market price. History will not judge us well if we continue with this transaction at the contentious valuation.”
He was appearing before the committee jointly chaired by Molo MP Kuria Kimani (Finance and National Planning committee) and Balambala MP Shurie Abdi (Public Debt and Privatisation), which is engaging stakeholders in regards to partial divestiture of the government’s shareholding in Safaricom PLC.
'Shadow' negotiators
Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro makes his remarks during the launch of the 2025 Mid-year economic report themed “A mid-year diagnostic of Kenya’s crossroads in 2025: Navigating the 2024/2025 public debt overshoot at Sarova Hotel, Nairobi, on September 15, 2025.
The former National Assembly’s Budget and Appropriation committee chairperson claimed that some of the parties engaged in the transaction were not contracted by the government.
He argued that the opaque nature of the deal raises serious accountability concerns, warning that public assets could be exposed to private profiteering, adding that there is no way Parliament can exercise effective oversight without full disclosure by the government.
“I would request clarity from the government on the individuals who were involved in the negotiations. It is apparent that some of the people who participated in the negotiations ostensibly representing Kenyans are not public officers or servants and are not officially contracted to act on behalf of the government,” Mr Nyoro said.
Treasury's defense
Nonetheless, National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi last week told the same committee that the National Treasury engaged KCB Capital as transaction advisor to conduct an independent valuation of Safaricom shares.
Mr Mbadi said the partial divestiture of Safaricom shares is expected to generate approximately Sh204 billion ($1.57 billion) in gross proceeds.
This will be achieved by selling a 15 per cent stake at a premium of 23.6 per cent to the six-month volume-weighted average price ending December 2, 2025.
However, the second term MP insisted that KCB should inform Kenyans whether there was a stock agent involved in the proposed sale, the role they are playing and why the transaction process was not spread across all stock brokers.
“Can KCB clarify in writing if there is any stock agent involved in this transaction? If there is, who are they? Which role are they playing?” he posed.
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