Court of Appeal Lifts Blockade On Ruto's Safaricom Share Sale

Court of Appeal Lifts Blockade On Ruto’s Safaricom Share Sale

The Court of Appeal has lifted conservatory orders that had temporarily stopped the government’s proposed sale of a 15% interest in Safaricom Plc to Vodacom.

The appellate court ruled that the government had met the legal standard for granting a stay and that lifting the ban was in the public’s best interests.

“Having fully and thoroughly considered this application, we come to the conclusion that it satisfies the two limbs of arguability and nugatory (meaningless), and that the public interest compellingly demands that the stay sought be granted. We accordingly grant it,” the judges ruled.

The verdict overturns the High Court’s conservatory orders, which had temporarily halted implementation of the intended transaction.

The Court of Appeal has now lifted the High Court conservatory orders that had frozen the proposed sale of the Government’s 15% shareholding in Safaricom PLC, pending the hearing of the substantive appeal.

The Court held that the Government had demonstrated an arguable appeal… pic.twitter.com/9WCmXmHnn0— EMS Law LLP (@Lexken_EMSLaw) June 26, 2026

The controversy emerged after petitioners Tony Gachoka and Fredrick Ogola filed a court challenge to the government’s intended sale of a portion of its Safaricom stake to Vodacom Group.

The transaction is likely to cost more than Sh200 billion.

The challenge followed approval by the National Assembly of the partial sale of government shares in the telecommunications company.

Parliament adopted a joint report by the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning and the Public Debt and Privatisation Committee.

The report clears the government to offload the 15 per cent stake in a move expected to raise approximately Sh240 billion for infrastructure development.

However, the transaction was subsequently challenged in court.

In their petition, Gachoka and Ogola questioned the legality and transparency of the proposed sale.

The Court of Appeal made the future of Safaricom uncertain today by lifing conservatory Orders, stopping the Illegal Sale to Vodacom; in the Tony Gachoka vs GOK case. Full hearing of Petition resumes in the High Court on Monday 29.06.26

TG @KANUParty_ke @MoiGideon @skmusyoka pic.twitter.com/pmqo2r2BUJ— Tony Gachoka (@TonyGachok15769) June 26, 2026

They argued that the proposed sale price undervalued the shares based on estimates they cited, placing their intrinsic value between Sh70 and Sh80 per share.

The petitioners also raised concerns over what they described as insufficient disclosure surrounding the transaction process.

According to the court filings, they argued there had been no indication of competitive bidding, clarity on valuation methods, or disclosure of advisers involved in determining the proposed sale price.

“The intended sale has been undertaken without meaningful public participation, contrary to the Constitution,” the petition states.

When the matter came before the High Court, a three-judge bench comprising Justices Francis Gikonyo, Roselyne Aburili and Tabitha Ouya issued conservatory orders suspending the transaction.

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The judges cited unresolved constitutional and public interest questions, including issues touching on data sovereignty, public participation, and other legal concerns raised in the petition.

The State later challenged those orders before the Court of Appeal.

Through the Attorney General, the government argued that the High Court erred in stopping the process.

She maintained that the transaction had not been completed and that the petitioners had not demonstrated irreversible harm that would arise if the process continued pending hearing of the case.

Despite lifting the conservatory orders, the Court of Appeal did not determine whether the proposed transaction is lawful.

Instead, the judges held that the appeal raised arguable issues and that maintaining the injunction was not justified at this stage.

Court of Appeal Lifts Blockade On Ruto’s Safaricom Share Sale