Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa apologises for internet outage during anti-Gov't demos

Despite many speculating that the outage was a deliberate move to hinder communication among Gen Z protesters on social media platforms, Safaricom attributed the interruption to issues with undersea cables.

Speaking on Citizen TV’s JKLive Show on Wednesday, Ndegwa emphasized the critical nature of internet connectivity, likening it to "air," which is often taken for granted until it is no longer available.

‘’I have talked so much about the importance of the internet. Internet is like air so when you have it you don’t realise you have it but when you lose it there is a problem. It is unfortunate that we lost the internet and let our customers down,’’ he said.

The Safaricom boss further expressed regret for the disruption, affirming the company's commitment to maintaining a reliable network.

‘’Safaricom is the largest provider of internet in Kenya and we let our customers down. Certainly, we do not interfere with it (internet) but we lost the internet at the point that we received it,’’ he said.

‘’It is our responsibility to keep the country connected to ensure that internet is always available and we hope we will never get to that space again. I apologise to all our customers; I apologise that we disappointed them but frankly it is my commitment to have always have network and we invest everyday.’’

Ndegwa further addressed the backlash Safaricom faced after the outage, highlighting that he was subjected to severe criticism from the public.

‘’I was called all types of names….I was ‘salimiwad,’ but when you are in a leadership position like mine, you are in a critical leadership role that serves the country in many ways whether it is during a crisis like COVID, drought or floods or a moment when internet is not available and people want to connect and you have to accept that you have to take responsibility so I didn’t take it personally,’’ he said.

‘’Safaricom cares and is invested in ensuring our customers have a frictionless always-on services.’’