- The parliamentary team had asked the EACC to establish whether government interests would be safe after the deal
- Telkom CEO Mugo Kibati told the Senate Committee on ICT that the merger will continue and likely be concluded before the end of this year.
MPs have summoned the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission bosses for okaying the Airtel-Telkom merger.
The EACC officials are expected to appear before the National Assembly’s Committee on Implementation next week.
The committee had asked the EACC to investigate how the merger deal was brokered and establish whether government interests would be safe after the deal.
Committee chair Moitalel ole Kenta, who is the Narok North MP, said the EACC decision is suspect and needs to be investigated.
“They have to explain how they arrived at that decision because they were investigating an illegality only to turn around and okay it.”
Yesterday, Telkom CEO Mugo Kibati told the Senate Committee on ICT that the EACC had given the merger a clean bill of health, thus allowing the Communication Authority to proceed with the process.
Kibati said the merger will continue and likely be concluded before the end of this year.
The committee, chaired by Baringo Senator Gideon Moi, was told that the EACC had stopped the investigations into the issues raised by the National Assembly after it became clear that Telkom is a private company.
“EACC wrote to the Communications Authority okaying the deal after establishing that Telkom is a private company,” Kibati said.
EACC is yet to submit its findings to the Kenta-led committee, which will report to the House on the matter as directed by Speaker Justin Muturi.
Kebati said that funds have been pumped into the company but nothing substantive has been realised as Telkom continues to dispose of its properties to stay afloat.
Telkom is jointly owned by the Government of Kenya and Helios Investors Fund III LLP through Jamhuri Holdings Limited. The government owns 40 per cent of the shares while Helios holds 60 per cent.
EACC indicated that Telkom cannot be subject to the State Corporations Act, and it cannot be investigated the way MPs demanded.
The merger is viewed as an attempt to break Safaricom’s dominance in the Kenyan market. Combined, the two will have 17.4 million subscribers, which is still far below Safaricom’s 31.8 million.
The joint venture will have Telkom Kenya as a minority partner with a 32 per cent stake in 'Airtel-Telkom', with an option of going up to 49 per cent.
The merger will however not result in immediate changes to the operations of the two firms. There will also be no change to the current respective leadership and management, organisational and staffing structures. Both brands and their respective products will co-exist.
Kibati will serve as the chairman of the new company while Airtel Kenya’s chief executive Prasanta Sarma will be the CEO.