Company shakeup continues as Safaricom replaces board members

However CEO Peter Ndegwa’s job is protected.

Kenya’s prime telco, Safaricom, has continued its company shakeup with the appointment of latest board members. Final week, Karen Kandie and Ory Okolloh have been introduced as new members of the telco’s board of administrators. This comes after Safaricom changed John Ngumi, who served as chairman for less than six months earlier than resigning, with standard Kenyan lawyer, Adil Khawaja.

Safaricom additionally introduced the resignation of  Linda Watiri from its board, efficient February 20.

The brand new board appointees be part of Safaricom’s 10-member board, changing Kandie, who was appointed Alternate Director to the Cupboard Secretary of Nationwide Treasury and Financial Planning, changing Stanley Kamau; whereas Okolloh has been appointed as an Unbiased Director, changing Bitange Ndemo.

Kandie, who’s the present Director of Parastatal Reforms (Monetary) on the Nationwide Treasury and Financial Planning, will characterize Treasury CS, Njuguna Ndung’u, throughout Safaricom’s board conferences. The Kenyan authorities owns 35% of Safaricom and a board seat.

Kandie brings together with her greater than 20 years of expertise in strategic management and administration within the monetary companies business.

Okolloh, alternatively, is a accomplice at Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures (VKAV), the place she leads and implements investment-related actions, drives enlargement, and helps accomplice firms with strategic and operational points. Together with Erik Hersman and two others, Okolloh co-founded Ushahidi, the open-source software program utility which utilises user-generated studies to collate and map information.

She has intensive expertise in company operations and serves as a member of a number of boards, together with Thomson Reuters Founders Share Belief, East African Breweries PLC, Deloitte Africa, Stanbic Basis, and Adecco Group Basis.

Okolloh holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the College of Pittsburgh and a Juris Physician (JD) diploma from Harvard Regulation College.

The appointments have been efficient as of twenty fourth February 2023.

Life below a brand new authorities

Safaricom nonetheless maintains a few of the authorities linkages that date again to its days as a part of the federal government’s telecommunications company,  Kenya’s Posts & Telecommunications Company.

We beforehand reported on Safaricom’s executive reshuffling that noticed Boniface Mungania who held the place of Chief Monetary Companies officer in an appearing capability since July 2022, changed by former KCB company banking director, Esther Masese. Mungania was then moved to the group’s digital transformation partnership workplace the place he’s accountable for driving partnerships with Kenya’s nationwide and county governments, as Director of Public Sector Digital Transformation. Ex-Diageo South Africa advertising and marketing head, Zizwe Awuor Vundla, was additionally employed as Director of Model and Advertising.

Native media reporting has described the collection of shakeups, particularly the resignation of John Ngumi who was near the Uhuru administration, as a part of strikes on the a part of the telco to “align itself with the brand new authorities below President William Ruto.”

Safaricom CEO, Peter Ndegwa, has needed to bat away the exit rumours that compelled Vodacom and the Kenyan authorities, who’re the important thing shareholders of Kenya’s primary telecoms operator, to publicly agree in principle to increase the tenure of its Ndegwa. The reappointment was linked to him persevering with the group’s worldwide enlargement.