M-Pesa services were disrupted across Kenya from around 2 am on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, leaving users unable to complete some transactions, including sending money, buying airtime and paying bills.
The outage prompted complaints from customers who reported difficulties using the mobile money service during the morning.
Some users also raised concerns about the impact on everyday activities, including paying for transport and purchasing goods.
Kenyans Report Failed Transactions
Several users took to social media to report problems with M-Pesa transactions. One user, identified as @BCherich, said multiple phone numbers were experiencing similar difficulties when sending money, buying airtime and paying bills.
“MPESA has had a problem this morning transacting. This includes buying airtime, sending money, and paying bills. Multiple selected phone numbers have had similar issues,” he said.
Another user, @bulljunker, complained that the disruption had affected their ability to pay transport fares and called for more competition in the mobile money sector.
Collins Omuga urged Kenyans to carry cash as a backup, saying M-Pesa outages could inconvenience users who depend on the service for daily transactions.
Mataya Kelvin also questioned what was happening with M-Pesa, noting that disruptions to the service could affect payments, bill settlements and purchases across the country.
“What is happening with M-Pesa this morning? When M-Pesa develops problems, the whole country feels it. From paying bills and buying goods to sending money for breakfast, everything can come to a standstill.”
Safaricom Responds to M-Pesa Outage
Safaricom acknowledged the disruption and apologised to customers affected by the service interruption.
In a response posted on its official X account, the telecommunications company said its teams were working urgently to restore services and minimise inconvenience to users.
Also Read: Safaricom Explains Why Some Users May Never Get Higher Fuliza and M-Shwari Limits
“Hello. We apologise for the M-PESA service disruption. Our teams are working urgently to restore services and minimise inconvenience,” Safaricom stated.
The company thanked customers for their patience and understanding as it worked to address the issue.
The disruption also affected M-Pesa-linked services, including the Ziidi investment platform, according to the information provided.
Safaricom Dismisses 118 Employees Over Fraud-Related Misconduct
Safaricom dismissed 118 employees over fraud-related misconduct in the financial year ended March 2026, up from 113 in the previous year, according to the company’s 2026 Sustainable Business Report.
The report stated that the dismissals involved theft, falsifying company records, unauthorised access to customer call records, and other criminal offences.
Also Read: Safaricom Launches New System Deducting Money Automatically from M-PESA for Investment
Safaricom also recovered KSh953 million in inflated M-PESA agent commissions, down from KSh1.7 billion in the previous financial year. The company attributed the recovery to proactive monitoring and data analytics used to identify irregular commission payments.
The report did not establish that the dismissed employees were directly responsible for the recovered funds.
“Fraud remained the most common category of concern reported through the ethics hotline in financial year 2026 and was managed through our fraud investigation processes,” Safaricom stated.
The company reported an 82% reduction in fraud and recovered 46% of reported losses during the period. It also referred 14 fraud cases to law enforcement, double the seven cases referred in the previous financial year.
Safaricom also reported training more than 5,643 people on fraud awareness during the year as part of its fraud prevention efforts.
The report said the measures were implemented as M-PESA processed 46.4 billion transactions worth KSh41.7 trillion in the financial year ended March 2026.
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