Parliament has kicked off a series of public hearings on the government’s proposal to sell part of its shareholding in Safaricom PLC, a plan that is drawing intense interest from investors, policymakers and the wider public.
The hearings, running from January 13 to January 21, 2026, are being conducted jointly by the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning and the Select Committee on Public Debt and Privatisation. The process follows a directive by National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula for the two committees to review Sessional Paper No. 3 of 2025, which outlines the government’s intention to reduce its stake in the telecoms giant.
Under the proposal, the State is considering offloading up to 20 percent of its shares in Safaricom, a transaction estimated to raise about KSh 244.5 billion. If executed, it would rank among the largest equity sales ever seen on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.
Market participants are expected to present views on how the sell-down could affect Safaricom’s share price, trading activity on the NSE and the government’s broader effort to rein in public debt.
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For the Treasury, the potential windfall from the share sale, together with the transfer of dividend rights, would inject substantial funds into the budget without adding to the country’s borrowing. The government has said the money would be channelled into major infrastructure projects, including energy, transport, water and aviation.
Safaricom remains the most valuable stock on the NSE and one of the State’s biggest sources of dividend income, which has sharpened debate over whether short-term cash gains are worth sacrificing a reliable long-term revenue stream.
