I was ‘salimiwad’ over internet outage during Gen Z protests and I accept it – Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa
Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa says he has accepted all the insults (kusalimiwa) hurled at him by Kenyans across the divide over the internet outage witnessed during the Gen Z demonstrations.
On 26 June, at the height of the Gen Z demonstrations to reject the 2024 Finance Bill, the country was hit by internet outrage when the telecoms giant lost its main connection point.
Although the outage was a coincidence, according to Mr. Ndegwa, the events sparked rumors and speculation that Safaricom had colluded with the government, one of its major shareholders, to deliberately shut down the internet.
Safaricom, however, blamed the disruption on problems with undersea cables that had been experiencing glitches, sparking the outrage.
In an interview with JK Live show, Mr. Ndegwa took the opportunity to once again apologize to Kenyans.
“Safaricom is the largest internet provider in Kenya and we let down our customers. Unfortunately, we lost the internet. And regardless of what happened, you could say we lost the internet at a certain point or whatever, certainly we did not interfere with it (the internet) but we lost the internet at the point where we received it. I apologize to all our customers. I apologize for disappointing them but frankly, it is my commitment to always have the network and that’s why we invest $350 million (Sh45 billion) every year.” Mr Ndegwa returned the apology.
And without shifting the blame, Mr Ndegwa took responsibility despite Safaricom’s explanation of the events that led to the internet blackout. That’s why he didn’t feel offended by the insults hurled at him by angry Kenyans personally.
“There was a lot of backlash. I was called all sorts of names. I was ‘salimiwad’ (insulted), 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-19, drought, floods, or moments when the 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 (the insults) personally”.