Safaricom has appointed Boniface Mungania as Chief Financial Services Officer, effective November 1, 2026, following regulatory approval. He will report directly to the chief executive and lead the business that includes M-PESA.

Contents

From customer care to the top of M-PESA
How the interim period began
The business Mungania now leads
Other leadership changes at Safaricom
Sources

Mungania has been running the division on an interim basis since July. He replaces Esther Waititu, who left Safaricom at the end of that month.

Boniface Mungania, Safaricom Chief Financial Services Officer — Boniface Mungania, appointed Safaricom’s Chief Financial Services Officer. Photo: [Courtesy of Safaricom]

From customer care to the top of M-PESA

Mungania joined Safaricom in 2007 as a customer care representative and was soon promoted to dealer account manager. In 2011 he moved to the financial services team as a senior officer in M-PESA business development.

He later became senior manager for M-PESA business development, worked as a mobile financial services consultant for Vodafone Qatar, and headed M-PESA products and services development. He was named Payments Tribe Lead in 2021.

He first held the financial services role in an acting capacity from July 2022 until February 2023, when Safaricom hired Waititu from KCB. He then moved to Director of Public Sector Digital Transformation from April 1, 2023, a role focused on partnerships with national and county governments.

Mungania has now spent more than 19 years at the company. Reports on the appointment say he holds a Bachelor of Science degree and is pursuing a Master of Science in Entrepreneurship at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. They also say he has received the Order of the Grand Warrior (OGW) for his role in national programmes.

How the interim period began

Safaricom named Mungania interim chief financial services officer in July, when Waititu announced her exit. TechCabal reported that she was the third senior executive to leave within five months.

The others were Sitoyo Lopokoiyit, who stepped down as managing director of M-PESA Africa in March, and Michael Mutiga, who left to become CEO of Stanbic Bank Kenya and South Sudan. At the time, Safaricom had not said how long the interim arrangement would last.

The business Mungania now leads

M-PESA revenue rose 13.6 percent to Sh100.1 billion in the six months to September 2026. That was the first time the service passed Sh100 billion in a half-year period.

M-PESA handled 27.4 billion transactions over the six months, up 25.2 percent. Safaricom’s Kenya business reported service revenue of Sh216 billion for the period.

Safaricom also said 53 percent of M-PESA transactions were free, rising to 81 percent for Lipa na M-PESA and Pochi la Biashara payments.

Other leadership changes at Safaricom

The appointment is one of several senior changes this year. In August, Caroline Wambugu was named Group Lead for Finance Controls, Performance and Investor Relations, with added responsibility for financial controlling, reporting, tax, treasury, shared services and credit collections.

Also in August, two Vodacom Group executives joined the Safaricom board as non-executive directors. Mariam Cassim leads Vodacom’s fintech business, and Matimba Mbungela is its chief human resources officer. They replaced James Ludlow and John Kipngetich Mosonik.

At Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia, Samuel Munyua has been appointed Chief Finance Officer, also effective November 1. He was previously Safaricom Group Financial Controller and has more than 20 years of finance experience, including roles at KCB Bank and Barclays Bank Kenya.