Safaricom say they will transmit October 26 election results

Leading telcos provider Safaricom on Wednesday said they will not be intimidated into pulling out their service for the October 26 repeat polls.

Safaricom boss Bob Collymore said the company is crucial in results transmission for the IEBC and will take part in the elections along with Airtel and Telkom Kenya

“Safaricom with the other two operators will continue to offer services to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), we will not be intimidated by anyone from playing our role,” Mr Collymore said.

The opposition coalition National Super Alliance (NASA), through lawyer Anthony Oluoch wrote to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) on September 29 demanding the investigation of Safaricom staff and Jubilee Chief Agent Davis Chirchir.

NASA named Mr Thibaud Rerolle (French National Director Technical and IT Safaricom), Antony Gachanja (Head of Technology Security), Shaka Kwach (Head of Special Projects-in charge of elections), Robert Mutai (Head of Technology Strategy, Assurance and Governance), Farouk Gaffour (Head of Network and Services Operations) and Andrew Masila (Senior Manager, Strategy and Architecture).

The Safaricom said that the move posed a threat to his team and that he would hold members of the opposition responsible if the staff or their family are harmed.

“These are innocent members of staff who just came in to do their jobs and to put their names into the political arena at a time when temperatures are very high, I have had to double up their security for them and for their families,” Mr Collymore said.

“If any harm comes to any of my people I will hold people personally responsible for threat,” he said.

The DPP Keriako Tobiko wrote to Directorate of Criminal Investigations to set up a team of prosecutors to provide technical guidance and assistance in investigating the issues raised by NASA.

Safaricom however have said they will not take any action on the alleged officers.

“There is no action I am going to take against my people, the DCI will conduct investigations and if there is anything wrong, I am the one who should be prosecuted, not my team,” he said.

Mr Collymore said that the stock market behemoth with Sh1 trillion in capitalizations has been largely affected by the prolonged uncertainties in the market due to the annulled polls and postponements of the repeat election dates rather than the political noise.

“I am urging politicians to stick to politics and leave companies and businesses out of this,” he said.