The merger between Telkom Kenya and Airtel has taken long because of tax compliance issues.
Telkom has now accused Safaricom and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) of attempting to use underhand tactics to sabotage its merger with Airtel.
The rare business spat between the firm and Safaricom became evident on Tuesday after the management raised concern over the same.
Telkom Kenya Chief Executive Officer Mugo Kibati on Tuesday said that Safaricom should keep off the issue of its merger with the service provider as it seeks to make services better.
“Does the dominant player not want to see this sector grow? Is the dominant player wary of competition, and even more precisely, wary of competitive pricing, choice and value for money for the consumer?” he said, as quoted by Daily Nation.
Kibati had also alleged that Safaricom wrote to the market regulator asking it to stop the planned merger of the two firms.
“On Friday, August 30, 2019, Safaricom informed the media that it had written to the Communications Authority, to urge the industry regulator not to approve the intended merger of businesses, as it had concerns that it wanted to be addressed first,” Kibati said.
Safaricom interim CEO Michael Joseph has also weighed on in the matter. Joseph dismissed claims that the company has been frustrating Airtel and Telkom.
He said that he has already written a letter to the market regulator over the matter. He also said that he has no problem with the whole issue but asked the two firms to respect its competitors in any undertaking.