Former Kakamega Senator Bono Khalwale found himself on the receiving end on Tuesday after he took to his Twitter account to question the validity of Safaricom’s massive profits just moments after the late Bob Collymore was cremated in Kariokor.
He had questioned the telecommunication giant’s big revenues, wondering whether the company is conducting fair business practices or acquiring excessive profit by all means. Khalwale’s remarks were however met with stern reactions from a section of Twitter users who told off the vocal leader for lacking respect for the late CEO
Bob Collimore is dead en cremated. Fare thee well brother.
Now time to ask the hard questions. Are the obnoxious astronomical profits by Safaricom fare business practices or mere profiteering? pic.twitter.com/BnTCiH6O3j— Dr Boni Khalwale, CBS (@KBonimtetezi) July 2, 2019
Khalwale’s remarks came just a month after the company recorded massive profits in May this year. According to the company’s press release dated May 2019, Safaricom’s net profit skyrocketed to a whopping Sh63.4 billion, growing by 14.7 percent. The profit was attributed to strong M-Pesa and mobile data performance.
“We achieved this by focusing on the customer, investing in the quality of our service, the performance of our network and creating differentiated customer experiences,” said the late Mr Collymore then.
His remarks on Safaricom comes just a day after Khalwale accused President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government of not being well prepared in the fight against cancer. Khalwale who was speaking on NTV AM Alive morning show said there was a need for the country to invest more resources on health sector in order to curb increasing cases of cancer among Kenyans of different ages.
“The answer is with the government deciding to fund universities and hospitals. The government is not investing enough in our doctors, it looks like no one is listening to them,” he added.
However, it was Khalwale’s sentiments on Safaricom that rubbed a section of Kenyans the wrong way and got him at the receiving end of a backlash. According to netizens, the timing of his suspicions was insensitive as the company’s CEO had just passed away and had been cremated.
Here are some of the reactions from Twitter;
First ask yourself,
Is your Boss Ulliam wealth, obnoxious astronomical salary by tax payers money or is thievery?????
— ᒍᗩᑎᗩ_ᗰITᗩᗩ. .. .🇰🇪 (@JanaMitaa) July 2, 2019
These are questions you out to have asked while serving as a senator. Let safaricom transition.
— Hon Lee Makwiny (@leemakwiny) July 2, 2019