Several of Kenya’s leading companies — among them Equity Bank and Safaricom — have recently dismissed employees over fraud-related cases.
The latest case involves the giant telco Safaricom, which dismissed 113 employees during the financial year ending March 2024, representing about 2 percent of its total workforce.
According to Safaricom’s 2024 Sustainability Report, released in October, the dismissals were part of efforts to strengthen accountability, enhance performance, and align the workforce with the company’s evolving strategic priorities.
“During the year ended March 2024, Safaricom dismissed 113 employees, representing 2% of the total workforce,” the report stated.
The company noted that all exits followed due process under Kenyan labor laws and internal human resource policies to ensure fairness and transparency.
“All disciplinary and performance-related exits were undertaken in line with the company’s code of conduct and relevant employment laws,” the report stated.
Equity Bank Fires Employees
In May 2025, Equity Bank terminated the employment of about 200 employees across its branch network following internal audits that uncovered a sophisticated payroll and M-Pesa scam leading to the loss of Ksh1.5 billion.
The affected staff, spread across the bank’s head office and branches nationwide, included both senior managers and junior officers.
The dismissals followed months of investigations launched in December 2024, during which employees were required to account for any irregular deposits into their bank or M-Pesa accounts for the past two years.
Also Read: Equity Bank Fires 200 Kenyan Staff Over M-Pesa, Payroll Scandal
According to the bank, the fraudulent activities involved the misuse of stolen IT credentials belonging to a manager in the Group Processing Center, which were used to authorize more than 40 high-value transactions funneling nearly Ksh1.5 billion to external accounts.
Equity Group CEO James Mwangi stated that the sacking was not a redundancy plan but a necessary cleanup to uphold the bank’s currency of trust.
“We have pushed the brand. It is now Africa’s top-rated financial brand and second globally. It will never survive if its people contradict it,” Mwangi said.
Also Read: Safaricom Fires 113 Employees in Major Crackdown
KCB Fraud Attempts
Meanwhile, the KCB Group also terminated the employment of 34 staff members across its regional operations as part of a crackdown on fraud and misconduct.
In its 2023 Sustainability Report, released in August, KCB reaffirmed its zero-tolerance policy toward criminal behavior.
“KCB enforces a strict zero-tolerance policy on tax evasion, fraud, and facilitation of unlawful conduct. This applies to all employees, agents, and third parties operating on behalf of the Group,” the report noted.
Of the 34 employees fired, 25 were implicated in criminal activities in Kenya and nine in Rwanda. The move comes as the banking sector grapples with a sharp rise in cybercrime and financial fraud, particularly in the mobile banking space.
KCB further reported that it blocked 339 fraud attempts last year, safeguarding Ksh212.9 million in customer funds, up from 249 attempts in 2023.
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