Nairobi, Kenya – October 6, 2025
A thanksgiving and fundraising service for viral content creator Kaluma Boy at Jesus Compassion Ministries (JCM) headquarters along the Eastern Bypass was briefly disrupted on Sunday after a sudden network outage crippled mobile money transactions.
Bishop Benson Gathungu Kamau, popularly known as Muthee Kiengei, accused Safaricom of switching off the network at a critical moment when Kenyans were sending donations to support the ailing father of Kaluma Boy.
“To our network provider Safaricom, our people at JCM are people of respect and direction. Please, because we want to raise money for this family of Kaluma Boy, restore the network so that we help this family,” he said during the service.
The interruption occurred as hundreds of well-wishers both online and in church contributed through M-Pesa, following a nationwide appeal to assist the young content creator, who has been caring for his father since he suffered a stroke in August 2024.
The service later resumed after the connection was restored.
During the event, Kiengei announced that The East African University had awarded Kaluma Boy a full scholarship to study sales and marketing to enhance his digital skills.
The emotional content creator thanked Kenyans for their overwhelming support, while his mother, Beatrice Wangechi, said the outpouring of help had restored her faith in humanity.
Safaricom had not issued a statement on the alleged network disruption by press time.
