In July, Kenya's Treasury banked more than KSh204 billion from a landmark share deal: the sale of a 15% stake in Safaricom, the company behind M-Pesa, to South Africa's Vodacom. Three months later, that deal is still legally undone, and the country's appeal judges have just declined to bring it back to life while the fight continues.
On Tuesday, October 13, Kenya's Court of Appeal rejected applications by the government and Vodacom to suspend a September High Court judgment that declared the sale unconstitutional, null and void, according to reports by Citizen Digital, The Standard and People Daily.
That means the High Court's orders, which restore the 15% stake to government ownership, remain in force until the full appeal is heard.
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Reported: a three-judge Court of Appeal bench refused to suspend the ruling that voided the sale of 6,009,814,200 Safaricom shares to a Vodacom subsidiary. The stake stays with the government for now.
What the Courts Have Decided So Far
On September 15, 2026, a three-judge bench of the High Court ruled that the partial sale of the government's Safaricom holding was unconstitutional. According to the reports, the judges found that the sale was a public policy decision that required meaningful public participation, and that neither the Cabinet nor the National Assembly provided it. They also faulted the government for not disclosing enough about the deal, including the identity of the buyer, before it was approved.
The court quashed the agreements and approvals behind the transaction and ordered the shares returned to the Government of Kenya, to be held on behalf of the public.
The government and Vodacom then asked the Court of Appeal to put that judgment on hold while they appeal. On October 13, Justices Luka Kimaru, Johnson Okello and Kathurima M'Inoti said no. The Standard reports the bench found the applications lacked merit. No date has been reported yet for the hearing of the main appeal.
The Money on the Table
The numbers explain why both sides are fighting so hard. According to court filings reported by The Standard, the deal covered 6,009,814,200 Safaricom shares transferred to Vodafone Kenya Limited, a Vodacom subsidiary, and was completed on July 6, 2026.
The government received about KSh204.3 billion for the shares, plus KSh40.168 billion paid in lieu of future dividends on the stake it kept. The transaction brought in roughly US$1.56 billion in foreign currency. The government has said the proceeds were meant to fund infrastructure through the National Infrastructure Fund.
In sworn affidavits, Attorney General Dorcas Oduor and Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi argued that the money is non-refundable, that the shares have already moved, and that reversing the deal would require changes to settled records at the Central Depository and Settlement Corporation and fresh cross-border regulatory approvals. They warned of knock-on effects on fiscal planning, investor confidence and foreign exchange reserves. The petitioners, including Tony Gachoka, challenged the deal's legality, valuation and approval process.
When the High Court first ruled in September, Vodacom said it would appeal, Reuters reported at the time.
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Why Safaricom Matters Beyond Kenya
Safaricom is not just a telecom company. M-Pesa, its mobile money platform, is the backbone of daily payments in Kenya. M-Pesa processed KSh41.7 trillion in the year to March 2026, and Kenya counted about 54 million mobile money subscriptions by June 2026, according to figures cited by Techpoint Africa from Business Daily.
That is why the ownership question is watched closely by investors far outside Nairobi. A sale that was signed, paid for and completed, and then voided by a court, raises hard questions for anyone pricing deals with African governments: how much public consultation is enough, and can a completed transaction be unwound months later?
What This Means for You
If you use M-Pesa or Safaricom's network, nothing changes day to day. The case is about who owns the shares, not how the services run.
For investors and founders across Africa, the lesson is about process. Governments selling stakes in strategic tech and telecom assets will face more pressure to consult the public and disclose buyers upfront, and buyers will price that legal risk into future deals.
For Vodacom, the wait continues. Its control of Safaricom through this stake stays uncertain until the Court of Appeal hears the full case.
The takeaway: a completed KSh204 billion deal remains void for now. The next big date is the Court of Appeal hearing, and it could reshape how African governments sell stakes in their biggest tech companies.
