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It was a normal night, the air was quiet and the sky was still. Everything was peaceful. Just then, the Safaricom heist began with a myriad of tweets that read something like this…
Breaking News!!!
Safaricom Heist is on.!!
You can OKOA JAHAZI as many times as you want. Even upto 100,000.
Don't sleep!!— Kiprono (@Onorpik) March 11, 2020
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The Okoa Jahazi Frenzy Begins
Let’s understand Okoa Jahazi first. The service allows Safaricom PrePay subscribers to request an advance of mobile airtime. This is in the amount of Ksh 10/-, 20/-,50/-, 100/-, 250/-, 500/-, and 1,000/.
Safaricom profit from this by taking up to 10% of the amount you borrow. So if you borrow KES 50, they’ll take KES 5. So they will send you KES 45 and expect you to pay KES 50. But before I digress any further, let’s get back to the story.
Soon after, many people followed the tweets instructions and started to ‘Okoa Jahazi’.
Ask @SafaricomPLC and @Safaricom_Care your system has been hacked.
Real heist.
Check on it pic.twitter.com/6AM4v7a3Gx— Stephen Chemiat (@ChemiatStephen) March 11, 2020
#SAFARICOM HEIST changamkeni wakuu. ?? pic.twitter.com/30gZfqlBWQ
— BenrayNgatia (@BenrayNgatia) March 11, 2020
Some borrowed up to, KES 18,000.
Jamaa amekopa airtime ya 18k akifikiria kuna heist Safaricom ???
?: courtesy pic.twitter.com/dZb3x4YNtM— Peaky Blinder (@millanouma) March 11, 2020
Safaricom Heist pic.twitter.com/5nbhcnnOm7
— ANTHONY (@nambekele_) March 11, 2020
Soon after this, Safaricom realized what was happening and questioned the ones who were ‘celebrating the heist.
What heist, Brian? ^MI
— Safaricom PLC (@SafaricomPLC) March 12, 2020
Safaricom Drops the Bomb on the Heist
Upon realizing the miscommunication or misunderstanding from the subscribers, they responded to the situation.
Hey. You will now be able to access multiple Okoa Jahazi without having to first repay the initial debt. Each individual Okoa credit has its own 5-day life span and will be available on both Okoa Jahazi and Okoa Internet. This is available *131#OK.^CQ
— Safaricom Care (@Safaricom_Care) March 11, 2020
Kenyans on Twitter could not handle the heartbreak and were forced into the realization that they will have to repay these debts.
The tears will be premium my guy…. pic.twitter.com/PlrbfuDKr7
— Mischievous Rascal (@Iam_vickiey) March 11, 2020
Oyaah Omweno…utamu wa deni ni kulipa. Story za La casa de papel tunaomba usahau. Due to public demand, we've made it possible for our customers to borrow multiple times from Okoa Jahazi currently. ^MZ
— Safaricom Care (@Safaricom_Care) March 11, 2020
You cant be serious I thought it was a heist…… Sa ni line nitupe ama tutasaidianaje watu wangu pic.twitter.com/iIRoa7nHzf
— muchoki wycliffe (@WycliffeMuchoki) March 11, 2020
There have been many heists on Safaricom where subscribers have been able to obtain insane amounts of data bundles, airtime or Bonga points. So when this strange new feature popped up, a lot of people thought it was another bug and thought they could take advantage.
From my perspective, I believe someone tried to Okoa Jahazi and realized they could Okoa more than once. It is easy to believe you have unveiled a different Safaricom Heist but that was unfortunately not the case. Now we wait and see what happens next.
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