Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna has raised the alarm following the sudden suspension of the Linda Mwananchi M-Pesa Paybill number, just hours after the campaign celebrated collecting over KSh 2.2 million from public contributions.
The disruption began when the official Linda Mwananchi social media handles posted a notice informing supporters of ongoing technical difficulties with Paybill 3033049.
According to the initial statement, the movement had reached out to the service provider to resolve the glitch as quickly as possible, asking contributors to remain patient.
However, the narrative shifted rapidly when Sifuna took to his personal X account, explicitly calling out Safaricom PLC for shutting down the collection channel.
In a sharp post, the vocal lawmaker alleged that the telecom giant deactivated the account following “orders from above,” hinting at external political pressure aimed at crippling the group’s financial mobilization.
The controversial shutdown comes right on the heels of impressive fundraising momentum.
Just 36 hours after launching the initiative, the group publicly shared accounting figures showing total contributions had reached KSh 2,210,836.82 through thousands of individual micro-donations.
The drive was designed to fund ground logistics, civic tours, and operational expenses for the civic movement completely through public crowdsourcing.
Sifuna’s allegation of state interference has sparked widespread public debate over political neutrality in essential financial infrastructure.
By framing the move as political sabotage, movement leaders argue that suppressing community-funded initiatives undermines democratic participation and civic transparency.
As public outcry grows over the paybill’s sudden closure, attention now turns to Safaricom PLC to clarify whether the outage is indeed a technical hitch or an administrative action executed under external directives.
Meanwhile, Linda Mwananchi organizers maintain that public support remains unshaken as they explore alternative avenues to keep their operations moving forward.