M-Shwari glitch drags on despite Safaricom’s assurance of restoration
By Ascah Mwango, October 31, 2025Several hours after Safaricom announced that M-Shwari services were back online, users say they are still unable to access their accounts or complete transactions.
The outage, which began on Thursday evening, continues to affect deposits and withdrawals, leaving many Kenyans frustrated as complaints pile up on social media.
By Friday night, October 31, 2025, Safaricom’s X (formerly Twitter) page was flooded with messages from customers demanding answers.
“Hey Safaricom, I deposited money into my M-Shwari account yesterday and it’s still not showing up,” one user wrote. Another added, “You said the problem was fixed in the morning, but I still can’t access my funds. What’s happening?”
Safaricom’s customer service team has since acknowledged that the issue is ongoing, despite earlier assurances that it had been resolved.
“Hey, we most sincerely apologise for the experience. We have noted the issue affecting the M-Shwari service. Please bear with us as we work to restore normalcy in the shortest time possible,” the company said in response to one complaint.
When asked for clarity on when services would resume, Safaricom said there was no specific timeframe yet.
“We don’t have a definite time frame; however, we will share an update once the issue is resolved. We apologise for the inconvenience caused,” the company posted.
Earlier in the day, the telco had issued a statement confirming that the technical glitch affecting M-Shwari had been fixed and that reconciliation was underway to ensure all transactions reflected correctly.
The assurance now appears premature, with many customers saying the service remains inaccessible.
M-Shwari, a partnership between Safaricom and NCBA Bank, allows users to save, borrow, and manage money directly from their M-Pesa accounts. The platform has millions of active users across Kenya, many of whom depend on it for everyday financial needs.