Ndindi Nyoro says he is ready to face Mbadi on TV over Safaricom sale
By Kenneth Mwenda, December 6, 2025Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro has said he is ready to face Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi on television to debate the government’s sale of a 15 per cent stake in Safaricom. The MP made the remarks on Friday, 5 December 2025, during a public event in Nairobi, responding to Mbadi’s dismissal of his claims that the government was underselling the shares.
Nyoro argued that the government failed to negotiate a better deal for Kenyans. He said the value of Safaricom cannot be measured only by the current trading price on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), especially given the market’s long bearish period. Explaining his position, he said:
“I have put my voice in it and I want to reinforce that the government is selling Safaricom stake 15 per cent. I want to repeat again and again that the government slept in negotiating a better deal with the buyers of Safaricom stake and I’m saying that with confidence, because I have been in the stock market in Kenya for a long time myself, because I also invest in the stock market.” he said.
“The Kenyan market has been bearish. Bearish meaning it has been going down. It has only started going up from last quarter of last year and you cannot measure the value of Safaricom by how much the share is trading. There are many examples for that to be re-evaluated. There is something called a bulk premium when you are selling many shares together.”
“You have seen many companies do that. REA Vipingo did that in 2014. The share was 27 shillings, but by the time they were selling in bulk it was bought by REA. The same brothers who had started the company earlier. The share was bought at 85 shillings. Like yesterday it was 27. By the time it was happening, it was selling at 85 shillings.”
Nyoro said the government was undervaluing Safaricom, a key national asset, and vowed to act on behalf of Kenyans during the public participation period.
“If you look at how the companies in their sector are valued, I just want to say as a Kenyan the government of Kenya is trying to sell Safaricom for a song. Because there is a period for public participation as it was said in Parliament yesterday, we are going to put our voice because we want Kenya to get the best value out of selling our most priced asset called Safaricom.”
“So that that money can build our roads, build our airports, that money can do infrastructure that we all use as entrepreneurs, as manufacturers, and as Kenyans. From where I sit as Ndindi Nyoro, I don’t talk about these things in terms of politics. If there is value that can be gotten and Kenya gets the rightful value for Safaricom, we would all be happy.”
Nyoro also accepted Mbadi’s challenge for a public debate.
“I want to from this platform respectfully tell my brother Mbadi I have taken up the challenge. When you are ready I am ready, in a TV station of your choice. And as you come, come with all the stakeholders involved in the sale of Safaricom because we are not doing it for politics.”
“I want to ask very pertinent questions on behalf of Kenyans. When he’s ready, including Monday, I am also ready in any TV station with any moderator of his choice so that Kenyans can get value for money in the sale of Safaricom.”
Mbadi defends Safaricom valuation
Mbadi had appeared on a TV station and dismissed Nyoro’s arguments, saying the MP was confusing the valuation of a firm with the valuation of its shares. Mbadi said the value of a company as an entity is not the same as the value of its shares and stressed that the government is selling shares, not the entire business.
He explained that the State relied on the six-month average of Safaricom’s share price and added a premium, which led to the Ksh34 price per share.
Mbadi also questioned Nyoro’s expertise, saying economists are not necessarily strong in valuation and suggesting the MP misunderstood the basics. He noted that Safaricom’s six-month average was around Ksh25 and argued that getting Ksh34 per share was already a good outcome.
The government plans to sell 6 billion shares at Ksh34 each, worth Ksh244.5 billion. After the sale, the State’s ownership will fall from 35 per cent to 20 per cent.