Former AG Githu Muigai and current Kenya Airways CEO Michael Joseph are the two shortlisted candidates for the position of Safaricom board chairman.
According to insiders on the board, Michael Joseph was thought to be a qualifying candidate since he can offer guidance to the company with his experience as former CEO and founder of the giant telecommunication provider currently riddles with cases of corruption and kickbacks.
Githu Muigai has been pushed by the government which thinks that it is a soft-landing for him after he was ambushed to resign from this position as AG a few months ago.
Current Safaricom Chairman Nicholas Nganga is set to retire as the recently introduced Capital Markets Authority governance code on age limit on listed company boards is set to kick in. Nicholas Ng’ang’a (78) is beyond the 70 years age limit.
The company might be facing a tumultuous period now with an absentee CEO who is battling cancer and has to go for treatment now and then. It seems like the company’s leadership has been handed over to former head of consumer business Sylvia Mulinge, whose foray into Tanzania was unceremoniously ended by those who are unhappy with his dealings.
Sylvia recently assumed the strong position of Chief Customer Officer with most of other “chiefs” reporting to her. Her position makes her the second in command at Safaricom, junior only to the CEO Bob Collymore. But her career has been tainted by accusations of corruption and underhand dealings, a fact which has hindered her recent promotion to Vodacom Tanzania CEO. It seems like her minders are determined to make her CEO at Safaricom now.
Sylvia Mulinge’s main war is drawn from her association with Saracen (said to be indirectly owned by her) which fought over Blaze campaign tender with Transcend Media Group (TMG).
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