Inside the Simon Kabu Bonfire Adventures dispute over KSh1.86bn and 48 Safaricom lines

A bitter legal fight between Bonfire Adventures founders Simon Kabu and Sarah Njoki has taken another dramatic turn after a dispute over 48 Safaricom phone lines landed in the High Court.

What started as a practical business arrangement more than a decade ago has now turned into a KSh1.868 billion battle, raising serious questions about who really owns critical digital assets when they’re registered in a founder’s personal name.

For years, the phone lines were at the heart of Bonfire Adventures’ daily operations. They handled customer inquiries, processed travel bookings and payments, and supported the company’s WhatsApp Business accounts along with extensive client databases.

But as the relationship between the company’s co-founders broke down, ownership of the SIM cards became a major point of conflict.

Although the lines were used exclusively for Bonfire Adventures’ business, they remain legally registered in Simon Kabu’s personal name.

Kabu is now demanding KSh1.868 billion in what he describes as historical licensing fees. He has also sought a monthly payment of KSh14.4 million if the company wants to continue using the disputed phone lines.

The disagreement reached the High Court, where Justice J.W.W. Mongare dismissed an application by Sarah Njoki and Bonfire Adventures seeking to stop Kabu from interfering with the lines.

Safaricom PLC was listed in the proceedings as an interested party, acting only as the custodian of subscriber records.

In the ruling, the court found that Bonfire Adventures had not produced a trust deed, board resolution or any written agreement showing that Kabu held the phone lines on behalf of the company.

The judge also upheld the legal position that ownership rests with the registered subscriber rather than the business that has historically used the asset.

Justice Mongare further noted that Bonfire Adventures has more than 100 other corporate phone lines, weakening the company’s argument that losing the disputed numbers would cause irreparable damage to its operations.

The decision removes the temporary protections that had been in place, giving Kabu greater leverage as the dispute between the former business partners continues.

The SIM card row is only one part of a much wider legal and personal fallout.

Court documents and public statements point to disagreements over alleged defamation, claims involving family property and the emergence of rival business interests.

The dispute has also shattered the public image of the couple, who spent years building Bonfire Adventures into one of Kenya’s best-known travel brands while presenting themselves as partners in both business and life.

Sarah Njoki argues that treating the communication system as personal property ignores the years of work that built the company’s customer relationships and goodwill.

Kabu, on the other hand, maintains that his legal rights as the registered subscriber remain valid regardless of how the business later expanded.

The case is also being watched closely beyond Bonfire Adventures because it highlights a problem many startups face in their early years.

Founders often register key business assets such as phone numbers, domain names and social media accounts in their own names before formally transferring them to the company.

Corporate governance frameworks in countries including the United Kingdom and the United States generally require important digital and intellectual property to be assigned to the business as it grows.

The Bonfire Adventures dispute has become a stark reminder of how failing to document ownership properly can create costly legal battles years later.

With the courtroom fight still far from over, the future of one of Kenya’s biggest travel companies may ultimately depend on who legally controls just 48 mobile phone lines.

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