Public hearings on Sessional Paper No. 3 of 2025 on the proposed offloading of 15 per cent of government’s stake in Safaricom PLC have wound up today with forums conducted in Kwale and Kilifi Counties.

The hearings spearheaded by the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning, jointly with the Select Committee on Public Debt and Privatization saw lawmakers traverse 30 counties to collate viewpoints on the matter. 

Speaking in Kilifi County after the conclusion of today’s forum, the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning Hon. Kuria Kimani pledged that the views of the public would shape the Committee’s report to the House on the matter.

“We are delighted that across the 30 counties that we have visited, the members of the public have come out to candidly give their views on what direction they wish the Safaricom divestiture process to take. Your views are not in vain and they will enrich our report to the House”, he undertook.

Among key issues that emerged during the public hearings and the preceding stakeholder engagements, was the prudent use of proceeds should the transaction go through.

Members of the public called on the Committee to put in place a framework before giving a nod to the transaction, to ensure that the proceeds are directed to critical national infrastructure as was earlier intended.

They cautioned that if the transaction goes through and the proceeds are directed to the Consolidated Fund, there were chances that the money could be misdirected to other uses not initially intended, or get misappropriated as has been the case before. 

“I support this move since accelerated infrastructure development will not occasion increasing of taxes or lead to higher borrowing. However, we do not want the proceeds directed to the Consolidated Fund as there will no way to ascertain what the proceeds were used for”, noted Mr. Charles Nyaga when the Committee sat in Embu county.

Amos Lekitap, a boda boda rider from Maralal, was blunt about the potential risks if the transaction goes through without a framework ringfencing the proceeds to the intended use.

“We have been losing a lot of money to corruption. If we don’t find ways of sealing the leakage gaps, even these proceeds will not yield much. You also need to come back and tell us how you appropriated the proceeds of the sale and its impact”, he told the lawmakers.

Already, a framework has been proposed floated to address these fears.

On Thursday February 12, the National Infrastructure Fund Bill, 2026 was read for the first time, paving the way for the Finance Committee to commence public participation on the proposed law.

The Bill sponsored by the Leader of the Majority Party, Hon. Kimani Ichungw’a, seeks to provide for the establishment and management of the National Infrastructure Fund. 

According to the Bill’s memorandum of objects and reasons, the Fund is proposed to scale up and accelerate development of catalytic national infrastructure, to mobilize private capital and non-traditional sources of infrastructure finance and to reduce the reliance of public debt for the financing of commercially viable infrastructure investments. 

It is proposed that the Fund will be managed by a Board of Directors that will develop an investment policy, valid for five years. 

Additionally, the Bill proposes that the sources of funds shall be proceeds from privatization and disposal of government assets and monies as may be appropriated by Parliament.

Already the Hon. Kuria Kimani-led Committee has conducted public hearings on the matter in Homabay, Mombasa, Kilifi and Kwale counties, alongside the Safaricom divestiture matter. The hearings are scheduled to continue in the coming weeks.

Other issues emerging from public hearings on the divestiture issue relate to equitable distribution of the proceeds in support of counties’ specific priority projects. 

In Samburu County, area residents led by Hon. Eli Letipila (Samburu North) underscored the need to their priority infrastructure projects to be considered along other projects that the government intends to undertake once the partial sale of 15 per cent has been approved. 

“We have water projects and about 6,000 kms of road that we require done to unlock the potential of our county. For instance, we want the Baragoi road and the Kisima- Wamba road tarmacked as a matter of priority. I will be seeking the inclusion of this matter in our recommendations”, the lawmaker stated.

Residents of various counties also called on the lawmakers to demand a list of enumerated projects set to benefit from the windfall. 

The decision to partially offload the government’s stake to Vodacom also came into sharp focus during the public hearings forums with a majority of Kenyans expressing interest to purchase a part of the stake.

“During Initial Public Officer of Safaricom shareholding to the public, the offer was oversubscribed. Why has the government decided to offload this 15 per cent to a foreign firm before making the offer to the public”, asked Mr. Stephen Muchangi from Manyatta.

The Committee is now set to retreat to prepare its report for consideration by the House.