Safaricom recovered Sh953 million in inflated agent commissions in the year to March 2026 as it stepped up its fight against fraud, and dismissed 118 employees over fraud-related misconduct during the same period.
The company attributed the recoveries to proactive monitoring and data analytics that flagged irregular commission payments to agents. The amount is down about 44 percent from the Sh1.7 billion it recovered a year earlier. The report does not say whether the recovered money came from agents, staff or both, and it does not establish a direct link between the sackings and the recoveries.
The 118 dismissals are up from 113 the previous year, marking the fourth straight annual rise. Safaricom also issued three disciplinary warnings and referred 14 cases to law enforcement agencies, double the seven referrals in the earlier year.
The report says fraud remained the most common concern raised through its ethics hotline, which is handled through its fraud investigation processes. The company says it spots fraud through customer complaints and its fraud management system.
On its wider results, Safaricom reported an 82 percent reduction in fraud incidents, short of its 90 percent target, and recovered 46 percent of reported fraud losses. It said it strengthened transaction monitoring, identity safeguards and fraud reporting, and expanded awareness efforts for customers and agents.
It trained 972 M-Pesa agents on know-your-customer and ethics requirements, up from 925, while awareness broadcasts reaching agents rose to 37 from 11. Its ethics programme reached 98 percent of employees, the same as the previous year.
The scale of the platform explains why the stakes are high. M-Pesa handled about 46.4 billion transactions worth Sh41.7 trillion in the financial year ended March 2026, which makes it one of Africa’s largest mobile money systems and a prime target for fraudsters. Safaricom has dealt with insider fraud for years, including unauthorised system access, fraudulent SIM swaps and misuse of M-Pesa processes.
Analysts note that more dismissals do not necessarily mean that fraud is getting worse. Safaricom has widened the operations that its reporting covers and better analytics can uncover misconduct that went undetected before.
The company encourages customers who suspect fraud to report it promptly, forward the original M-Pesa message to 456 to request a reversal, and avoid sharing their PIN with anyone.
