Mumias East Member of Parliament Peter Salasya has clashed with his Kiharu counterpart, Ndindi Nyoro, over the government’s proposed sale of its 15 per cent stake in Safaricom PLC to Vodacom Group.

While presenting his views before a joint sitting of the National Assembly Committees on Finance and National Planning, and Public Debt and Privatisation in Nairobi on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, Nyoro argued that Kenya must open up the transaction to international bidders before it risks losing billions of shillings through an undervalued and poorly structured transaction.

However, in his quick rejoinder, Salasya said it is equally unacceptable to sell the particular stakes internationally, arguing that the shares in contention are a national heritage that cannot be sold.

National heritage

”Ndindi Nyoro, stop that conversation of supporting the sale of Safaricom, whether locally or internationally thats our heritage and strategic investment of this country and diluting the government shareholding will compromise and disadvantage the country. Remember that most of the government operations are being sponsored and supported by Safaricom platforms. As the 6th President, I have refused that conversation ama pia inakaa unaeza kuwa kama Ruto wa kuuza vitu ovyo ovyo. We must protect the gains of this country and not struggle to sell to the highest bidder,” Salasya said.

At the centre of his argument is the valuation of Safaricom, one of Kenya’s most profitable companies. Ndindi Nyoro noted that the telecommunications giant was valued at approximately Ksh1.8 trillion in 2021, even before its expansion into the Ethiopian market.

“The valuation is not commensurate with what Safaricom PLC is. The company was valued at Ksh1.8 Trillion in 2021 before the investment in Ethiopia. It should be worth more now,” he said.

The lawmaker further claimed that recent market developments may have been engineered to suppress Safaricom’s share price ahead of the transaction. He pointed to the immobilisation of 16 billion shares in June 2025, said to be owned by the prospective buyer, saying the move sent a signal of imminent large supply to the market and weakened investor confidence.

”The immobilisation of 16Bn shares in June 2025 owned by the buyer was meant to undermine the share price by ostensibly sending a message of imminent supply,” Nyoro said.

Financial risk

According to the legislator, the government also stands to lose over Ksh80 billion through conditions precedent imposed by regulators, which he said unfairly transfer financial risk to Kenyan taxpayers.

“Kenya cannot afford to lose over Ksh 80Bn on Conditions Precedent extended by the regulators. Bottomline: open the bid to International Markets, Kenya will definitely get more.” Nyoro stated.

Ndindi Nyoro’s directives come as the National Treasury has begun the process of selling a 15 per cent stake in Safaricom PLC to the Vodacom Group in a transaction aimed at raising funds for development financing and reducing pressure on public borrowing and taxation.

Appearing before a joint committee of the National Assembly on Tuesday, January 13, 2026, Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury John Mbadi said the proposed partial divestiture is expected to generate about Ksh204.3 billion from the share sale, with total proceeds projected at Ksh244.5 billion after factoring in an upfront dividend monetisation component.

According to the National Treasury, the transaction will see the State’s shareholding in Safaricom reduce to 20 per cent, while Vodacom Group’s stake will rise to 55 per cent, consolidating ownership previously split between the Government and Vodafone if completed.