John Ngumi ,the board chairman of Safaricom has resigned six months after he was appointed by the Telco in a move seen to align the firm with the Kenya Kwanza administration.
The telco on Thursday announced the resignation of Mr Ngumi, as a director of the company and chairman from December 22.
Safaricom said in a statement “He has steered the company through a general election and supported the entrenchment of our purpose of transforming lives through our products and services as well as within the communities we serve.”
The Telco did not name a successor, however,it indicated that the new chairman will be elected by the board in the coming weeks.
Mr Ngumi was a close ally of the former President Uhuru Kenyatta and has served as chairman in many parastatals, such as the Industrial & Commercial Development Corporation (ICDC) which was in charge of the Kenya Transport & Logistics Network that had Kenya Ports Authority, Kenya Pipeline Company Limited and Kenya Railways Corporation. He also served on the board of Kenya Airways.
The Kenya Kwanza administration intends to use Safaricom to support its Hustler Fund loan programme as well as the fertiliser distribution plan.
Before joining Safaricom,Mr Ngumi was the chair of the board of the Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation (ICDC) and also served in a similar capacity on the inaugural Board of Konza Technopolis Development Authority (KOTDA) and has served as the Board Chair at the Kenya Pipeline Company Limited (KPC).
Safaricom also announced the appointment of Adil Arshed Khawaja, an advocate of the High Court of Kenya as a director of the board with effect from December 22 and approved by the board on January 5.
According toSafaricom, Mr Khawaja, who currently serves as the managing partner at Dentons Hamilton Harrison & Mathews, has over 30 years of experience in the legal profession ranging from dispute resolution to commercial and real estate.
“He is recognised as a leading name in the Kenyan legal profession and has been globally recognised in various practice groups as one of the most sought-after lawyers in Kenya,” Safaricom said in a statement.
Mr Adil previously served as a director of KCB Group and was elected the first chairman of KCB Bank Kenya Limited.
Eight executives occupying the 11 C-suite seats at Safaricom have recently left for roles outside the firm or at British Vodafone and South Africa’s Vodacom ,which have a combined 40 percent stake in the Kenyan company.
This has allowed the firm to tap new skills in Kenya’s evolving telecoms market and shape the management in line with Mr Ndegwa’s strategy that intends to maintain Safaricom’s profit trajectory.
