Safaricom has been sued over the safety of monies transacted over its Mpesa platform. Mr Joseph Gitonga Kihanya and a lobby group, Uzalendo, went to court on Monday to have Safaricom compelled to explain whether PIN numbers of customers with Mpesa accounts can be accessed by Safaricom staff and if money deposited by Kenyans in those accounts is safe.
According to Mr Kihanya, Safaricom customers are exposed to untold risks due to information leaked by its employees hence the need for the matter to be urgently addressed to prevent loss of monies.
“I believe the accounts of Mpesa should be private, the terms and conditions say so but if the transaction can be revealed by media outlets it means strangers get to know your transactions and that anyone’s pin can also be given to people who might withdraw money without your consent,” Mr Kihanya said.
The suit comes after the publication of a story and an expose dubbed Kanjo Kingdom in which Mpesa details of the individuals named — Mr Benson Akasi alias Tall Brown and Mr Alfred Marenya alias Wasiwasi — were accessed and publicly revealed.
The expose showed how Wasiwasi transacted more than Sh18 million between 2013 and 2016 through his Mpesa while Brown cashed in more than Sh4.8 million in 2015 alone.
However Safaricom claimed that information regarding the two was released after a court order was obtained on March 11 requiring the release of call data and Mpesa statements of the two so as to complete investigations on murder offenses.
