Safaricom dismissed 118 employees over fraud-related offences during the financial year ended March 2026. The telecommunications company disclosed the figures in its 2026 Sustainable Business Report, released on Tuesday, October 27, 2026.
The dismissals rose from 113 in the previous financial year, marking the fourth consecutive year of increasing staff terminations linked to fraud. Safaricom also issued three disciplinary warnings and referred 14 cases to law enforcement agencies, up from seven the previous year.
Reasons for Dismissal
According to the report, misconduct that may lead to dismissal includes theft, falsifying company records and accessing customer call records without authorisation.
Other grounds include breaches of security, compliance and governance policies, as well as conduct that amounts to a criminal offence.
Safaricom investigates suspected fraud through customer complaints and its fraud-management system. Its Ethics and Compliance team or relevant managers assess cases before the company takes disciplinary action. The report does not identify the employees involved or link each dismissal to a specific case.
KSh953 Million Recovered
Safaricom also recovered KSh953 million linked to inflated agent commissions during the year. However, the amount was lower than the KSh1.7 billion recovered in the previous financial year.
The company attributed the recoveries to proactive monitoring and data analytics that helped identify irregular commission payments.
Safaricom works with a large network of agents who support services such as M-PESA transactions and SIM registration.
Monitoring these distribution channels remains an important part of its fraud-prevention efforts. The report does not state that the commission recoveries were directly connected to the 118 staff dismissals.
M-PESA Handles KSh41.7 Trillion
The disclosures came as Safaricom’s digital financial services continued to expand. M-PESA processed 46.4 billion transactions worth approximately KSh41.7 trillion during the financial year.
The company also reported monitoring about 1.25 billion attempted cyber intrusions and investigating more than 130,000 security events.
Safaricom said it continued strengthening its systems to protect customer information and reduce fraud. Its measures include monitoring suspicious activity, improving access controls and enhancing fraud detection.
Fraud Remains a Key Concern
Despite the dismissals, Safaricom reported an 82 per cent reduction in fraud incidents against its target of 90 per cent. It also recovered 46 per cent of reported fraud losses.
The figures highlight the challenges of protecting a large digital payments ecosystem. They also underline the importance of safeguarding customer data as mobile money services become more widely used.
