Activists urge High Court to declare Safaricom share sale unconstitutional

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Activists challenge Safaricom stake sale in High Court showdown. [Courtesy]

The government's bid to sell its 15 per cent stake in Safaricom to Vodacom Group intensified on Monday after activist Tony Gachoka and other petitioners urged a three-judge bench of the High Court to declare divestiture unconstitutional, illegal and void.

Gachoka and his co-petitioners warned that the deal, which was cleared by the Court of Appeal on Friday to proceed, would hand effective majority control of Safaricom, one of Kenya's most strategic national assets, to foreign-controlled entities.

Appearing before a three-judge bench of Justices Francis Gikonyo, Roselyne Aburili and Tabitha Ouya, lawyers led by Senior Counsel Kalonzo Musyoka and advocate Soyinka Lempaa argued that the planned disposal of more than six billion government-held Safaricom shares violated the Constitution and the Privatisation Act.