Safaricom restores M-Pesa service for Kenya Power token purchase after disruption
By Ascah Mwango, August 4, 2026Safaricom has restored the M-Pesa service used to purchase Kenya Power prepaid electricity tokens after a disruption that prevented customers from completing transactions on the evening of Monday, August 3, 2026.
The restoration comes after hundreds of customers reported failed attempts to buy prepaid electricity tokens through M-Pesa, with many taking to the social media platform X to seek assistance from Safaricom and Kenya Power.
During the disruption, customers said they repeatedly received transaction failure messages despite having enough money in their M-Pesa accounts. One of the messages read: “Transaction failed, M-PESA cannot complete payment of Ksh500.00 to KPLC PREPAID. Please try again shortly.”
Safaricom later acknowledged the issue, apologised to affected customers, and confirmed that there was a technical problem affecting KPLC prepaid token purchases through M-Pesa.
The telecommunications company said its technical team was working to restore the service and advised customers to remain patient while the issue was being resolved.
Following the restoration, customers were once again able to successfully purchase Kenya Power prepaid electricity tokens through M-Pesa, with transactions being processed normally.
The temporary disruption had left many prepaid electricity users unable to top up their meters using one of the country’s most widely used payment methods. The issue triggered numerous complaints online as customers sought updates on when the service would return.
The restoration means customers can now use M-Pesa to purchase Kenya Power prepaid tokens through the available payment channels without the transaction failure messages experienced during the outage.