Safaricom, the leading telecommunications company in Kenya, has announced planned system maintenance to enhance its infrastructure and support the growing demand for innovative services.

The telco announced the service interruption via a statement issued on Friday.

According to the statement, the maintenance is scheduled to take place on the evening of Saturday, 20th May 2023, from 11 PM to 4 AM on Sunday, 21st May 2023.

The move is essential and will enable Safaricom to continue fostering innovation and meet the increasing customer demand.

“To support even more innovations and growth in customer demand, we will be carrying out planned system maintenance on the evening of Saturday 20th May 2023, from 11 PM to 4 AM Sunday, 21st May 2023,” the notice read.

"During the maintenance period, certain services will be available intermittently to ensure a smooth transition."

These services include Lipa Na M-PESA PayBill and Buy Goods, M-PESA Business to Customer (B2C) and Business to Business (B2B) transactions, Daraja Portal, all M-PESA APIs, M-PESA organization Portal, Dealer portal, and Lipa Na M-PESA portal.

International Money Transfers (Western Union) and M-PESA Global services will also be affected.

Furthermore, the M-PESA App and Safaricom App, as well as M-Shwari, KCB M-PESA, M-Kesho, Hustler Fund & Fuliza New Limit allocation, pinless top-up, and IoT services, will be intermittently available during the maintenance window.

However, Safaricom assures its customers that all other services, including voice calls, data, SMS, and other M-PESA services, will be fully operational without any interruptions.

Safaricom acknowledges that this maintenance may cause some inconvenience to its customers and sincerely apologizes for any disruption experienced during the designated period.

“We are sorry for any inconvenience caused and thank you for your support in maintaining our position as the country's leading provider. SAFARICOM PLC,” Safaricom said.

Safaricom’s notice is necessary because the telco the leading mobile money platform and the intermittent service interruption is likely to affect many Kenyans who prefer mobile money transactions to handling cash since the Covid-19 pandemic.