Kenyan MPs move to block Safaricom listing

NAIROBI, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Three Kenyan legislators on Monday sued to block the planned listing of the country's leading mobile phone operator, Safaricom, saying the state had failed to disclose a third secret shareholder.

Safaricom was founded in 1999 in what was thought to be a 60/40 joint venture between Kenya and Britain's Vodafone (VOD.L: Quote, Profile, Research) but local media reports suggest a Guernsey-registered firm called Mobitelea Ventures Ltd secretly holds 5 percent.

"We have moved to this honourable court to quash the decision of the government through the minister for finance or his appointed agents to offer to the public Safaricom shares," the three opposition legislators said in their lawsuit.

"It is evident that the Government of Kenya has refused to give a full disclosure of the ownership of Safaricom and the sums received or not received in various transactions constituting its current shareholding," the suit lodged at the High Court in Nairobi said.

Last month, the opposition Orange Democratic Movement threatened to block the planned sale of the firm worth $2 billion until ownership doubts were cleared up but Safaricom's chief executive has said the allegation is false.

The government intends to sell off a 25 percent stake in the country's most profitable firm through an initial public offering on the Nairobi Stock Exchange by the end of the year.