Safaricom wins Ksh1.1bn case against man who claimed M-Pesa apps were his idea

A software developer who claimed Safaricom used his ideas to build the two M-Pesa Apps has lost a KSh1.1 billion award after the High Court ruled there was no signed contract. The Court, on Tuesday, overturned the award made to Samuel Wanjohi, through his firm Popote Innovations.

The dispute originated from a proposed 2018 partnership for a mobile payment solution called “Popote Pay.” 

Wanjohi claimed that the telecoms company agreed to a revenue-sharing formula, but later abandoned the project and launched its own “similar” M-Pesa apps in June 2021 without compensation. He also claimed that Safaricom used his idea (the Popote Pay model) to design the M-Pesa Super App and the M-Pesa Business App.

However, Safaricom refuted the claims, explaining that the partnership agreement was never documented, finalised or signed. The telecoms company noted that it had only reimbursed Popote for its development costs under a separate settlement agreement in 2020, which sustained its copyright model. 

Wanjohi, through his firm Popote Innovations, won the massive payout of KSh1.1 billion in November last year after an arbitrator concluded that Safaricom had used his firm’s ideas to develop the two M-Pesa apps. Safaricom, in response, petitioned the High Court to nullify the award, arguing it was fictitious and based on an unfinalised agreement.

In its ruling, the High Court agreed with Safaricom, stating that the arbitrator’s award “offends the principles of contractual certainty, legality, and fairness and conflicts with the public policy of Kenya.” The judge found that the award was “predicated on an unsigned and inoperative contract and that the finding of similarity between the apps was unsupported by expert or factual evidence.” 

With that, the Court ruled that Wanjohi lacked a signed contract with Safaricom to deserve compensation

In this case, experts noted that the development shows how big tech companies with dominant platforms can stifle innovation by copying smaller companies’ successful ideas and using their massive reach and control over distribution channels to outcompete them. With this act, they leverage control over distribution and user data to dominate the market.

While current laws may not adequately address these practices by protecting incumbents instead, experts urged for updated competition laws to protect innovation.

Also Read: Safaricom records $1.5bn in voice and data revenue for six months ending Sept 2025.

Not the first for Safaricom

In 2021, Safaricom won a KSh209 million lawsuit brought by Mr Jonathan Murangiri Gikabu, who claimed the telecom giant stole his ideas to launch the M-Pesa 1 Tap. The App works by using a simple tap of a card, wristband or a phone sticker.

The Kenyan High Court dismissed the case, saying Gikabu failed to provide substantial evidence that Safaricom seized the idea from him.

In the suit, Gikabu claimed that M-Pesa 1 Tap was his brainchild. He explained that he shared it in confidence with Safaricom in 2014 as a product that allows faster payments for products by tapping NFC-powered phones, stickers, or bands to a terminal at merchant outlets.

Gikabu later sued the telecom company upon the discovery that his idea was used to launch Safaricom’s NFC [Near Field Communication] mobile payment system for non-smartphones known as ‘M-Pesa 1 Tap’. The telecoms denied the claims and argued that technology had been deployed in Card Planet, the discontinued Beba Pay, and My 1963 (a mode of cashless fare payment card for public transport).