Safaricom has been ordered to pay more than Sh41 million to 17 former area sales managers unlawfully and unfairly dismissed after a botched electronic subscriber registration project. Each won 10 monthsโ salary and a monthโs notice pay. The company piloted the project in October 2016, but the managers warned that the devices were not locked to Safaricomโs network and lacked controls to prevent misuse or track their distribution.
A witness for the managers testified that management ignored their feedback and proceeded with a national rollout of about 90,000 devices, some handed to the managers from December 2016. The project collapsed. Safaricom blamed and summarily dismissed the managers, but the Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nairobi found that the company had set them up to fail. In its judgment dated 26 May 2025, the court held that Safaricom had breached the Employment Act.
