Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa is once again facing serious questions after a company employee admitted in court that private data of a Moi University student was handed to investigators without a court order.
The shocking confession came during the trial of David Oaga Mokaya at the Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi on September 8, 2025, and directly undermines Ndegwa’s repeated claims that Safaricom only shares customer information when ordered by a judge.
This revelation is now exposing the CEO’s denials as lies, showing that under his leadership, Safaricom has been enabling unlawful surveillance and aiding state agencies in their crackdowns.
Mokaya was arrested in November 2024 after posting a satirical image on X that showed a coffin covered in the Kenyan flag, suggesting it contained President William Ruto’s body. The post spread widely during a tense political period, and authorities accused him of spreading fear.
What is most disturbing is not just the arrest itself but how easily investigators were given access to Mokaya’s private records. In court, Safaricom officer Mr Daniaf admitted he released the student’s phone records to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations without first obtaining judicial approval.
He acknowledged knowing this was against the Data Protection Act but justified it as routine cooperation with police requests.
This admission completely shatters the defense Safaricom and its CEO have used for years. Peter Ndegwa has consistently said the company never hands out customer information without proper legal authority. Yet, here is proof from within the company that such denials are empty words.
Safaricom’s actions have fueled concerns that the firm is directly involved in aiding abductions and arrests of government critics, a claim long raised by human rights defenders.
Reports such as one by Access Now in June 2025 had already accused Safaricom of sharing sensitive data that was linked to a series of abductions between 2024 and 2025.
That report even called on Vodacom, Safaricom’s parent company, to urgently investigate. Instead of accountability, Ndegwa dismissed those concerns. Now with this court testimony, his reassurances appear not only misleading but part of a wider cover-up.
The risks to ordinary Kenyans cannot be ignored. Millions rely on Safaricom for calls, internet, and M-Pesa, yet this case shows how vulnerable they are to unlawful monitoring.
Senators had earlier demanded investigations into telecom firms over such practices, warning that unchecked data sharing puts citizens at risk of surveillance, harassment, and identity theft. Mokaya’s trial has peeled back the curtain, exposing that Safaricom under Ndegwa’s watch is not protecting Kenyans but betraying their trust.
