Safaricom Wants Sh540 Million Back Over Okoa Bundle Losses

Safaricom is asking a Kenyan court to order a firm called Kubwa Capital to pay about Sh540 million, money it says went unpaid on Okoa bundles. The case was reported by The Standard on 1 October.

The deal that went wrong

Safaricom's story is that Kubwa Capital came to it with a proposal. The idea was to let more subscribers qualify for Okoa bundles. Customers who could already borrow Sh500 or less would see their limit doubled.
Safaricom says that in return, Kubwa Capital agreed to take on the losses if those larger loans were not repaid. It also says the deal capped bad debt at Sh100 million. The Sh540 million it is now claiming is well above that figure, which will probably be one of the things the court has to untangle.
None of this has been tested yet. These are Safaricom's allegations, and Kubwa Capital's side of it is still to come.

So what is an Okoa bundle?

If you have ever run out of airtime or data at a bad moment, you already know. Okoa means "rescue" in Swahili. You take a bundle on credit, use it straight away, and pay Safaricom back later with a fee on top.
Safaricom has told customers that Okoa Jahazi should be repaid within five days. Whatever you load next goes towards the debt first, before you get any airtime from it. And if the debt is still there after 15 days, the company says it can use your Bonga Points to clear it. A customer who complained about exactly that was told it is part of the service rules, according to a Dawan Africa report.

Why it matters beyond the courtroom

Each Okoa loan is tiny, often under Sh500. Add up millions of them and the sums get large quickly, as this case shows. Doubling the limits for a whole group of customers also doubles what is at risk if many of them don't pay, and someone has to absorb that. In this case Safaricom says it was supposed to be Kubwa Capital.
For people who use these services, the case is a reminder that the rules are real. A top-up can vanish into an old debt, and points you were saving for something else can be used up. It is worth knowing the repayment period before you borrow, not after.
Safaricom has not said how the case might affect the Okoa products themselves, and customers should expect the services to carry on as normal while it goes through the courts.