Thousands of Kenyans scrambled to secure a stake in Safaricom, the country's largest mobile phone offering, yesterday in a float that is believed to be the biggest in East Africa.

In scenes in stark contrast to the brutal tribal violence that plagued the country over the new year after its disputed election, private investors sought to put their faith in Kenya's nascent stock market.

The Kenyan Government is offering ten billion shares from its 60 per cent stake in Safaricom, the remainder of which is owned by the Kenyan unit of Vodafone. The sale will mean that the Government's stake will shrink to 35 per cent, leaving Vodafone Kenya with a controlling share.

The offer went ahead despite calls by Raila Odinga, the opposition leader, to delay it until a new Cabinet is named.

Mr Odinga, who lost the presidential election to President Kibaki in December, and his Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) have raised questions over Mobitelea, a Guernsey-registered company. Reports claimed that the company was a secret third-party owner of Safaricom and could be backed by senior Kenyan politicians or their families. Despite enquiries last year by the British Serious Fraud Office and by a Kenyan parliamentary watchdog, ownership remains unknown.

Vodafone said that Mobitelea has a 12.5 per cent stake in Vodafone Kenya, but denied that it owned Safaricom. However, it would not say who owned Mobitelea because of confidentiality agreements.

Safaricom's IPO is the most anticipated public offering that the country has seen. Even Mr Odinga has had to tone down his opposition to the sale. “There are hundreds of thousands of ordinary Kenyans who are ready to buy Safaricom shares and we do not wish to discourage them,” he said. “Every effort should be made to make this purchase more accessible by Kenyans in all the regions and in all walks of life.”

Some Kenyans were angry about the sale because buyers were required to invest at least 10,000 shillings, about £75, which many could not afford. “For us, the common man, who was supposed to buy these shares, we cannot afford it,” David Mutua, a 27-year-old security guard, said. “It's just another advantage to the rich, who will keep their millions and millions.”

Safaricom shares started selling at 7½ US cents. The company had pre-tax profits in 2007 of $370million (£186 million).Safaricom, which is valued at 200 billion shillings, has about ten million subscribers. It has enjoyed particular success through the launch of its M-Pesa mobile money transfer, allowing Kenyans working in urban areas such as Nairobi to send money back to their families in the villages by text message.

Mr Kibaki opened the offering in a ceremony at the same conference centre in Nairobi where officials had counted the ballots in the presidential election in December and January.

Kenya's mobile phone industry is booming. Mr Kibaki said that more than 13 million Kenyans owned mobile phones, compared with less than 20,000 in October 2000. “At this pace of growth, we expect to realise 20 million subscribers in the next three years,” he said.

Some commentators referred to would-be investors as “punters”, however, and analysts and ordinary Kenyans fear that the state-controlled media was advertising the offering as a sure bet, luring people with little understanding of the market to invest.

“The radio stations are all owned by big people so they cannot talk negatively,” Makoha Ruben, 29, said - adding that he did not have the money to invest in any case.

“They just advertise and tell you the benefits. They don't tell you the dangers.”

On the line

— Safaricom is Kenya's leading mobile telephone operator. It was set up in 1997 as a fully owned subsidiary of Telkom Kenya

— Vodafone bought a 40 per cent stake in May 2000. The remaining 60 per cent stake is held by the Kenyan Government, which will hold 25 per cent after the float. Public shareholders will have 25per cent

— Safaricom employs more than 1,000 people and has ten retail shops across Kenya

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