Bob Collymore-Safaricom CEO breathes last after valiant cancer battle

Long-serving Safaricom CEO Robert (Bob) William Collymore is dead. A statement from the telecommunications company saysthat he died at his Nairobi home at 2 am, Monday morning.

The Guyanese-born British corporate titan died after a brave battle with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)- the cancer of the blood, Safaricom statement has stated.

His rough journey with ill-health started before he travelled to the United Kingdom in October 2017 for treatment after falling ill.  He then returned in July 2018 after which he underwent treatment in various hospitals, including Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi. However, his condition grew worse and he, today morning, succumbed after a battle lasting for more than a year.

In May 2019, he was granted one-year contract extension. Mr Collymore has left behind a wife and four children. He got married to a Kenyan woman, Wambui Kamiru, upon settling in Kenya as one of the country’s top-ranked corporate bosses.

Kamiru is the founder of The Art Space, an Independent visual art space.

Prior to his coming to Kenya, Bob Collymore worked in UK. There, he worked for companies such as Cellnet, Dixons Retail, and Vodafone UK before moving to Japan to manage the J-Phone company’s transformation into Vodafone Group.

Awards

In 2012, as the country approached the 2013 General Elections, Bob w3as awarded the order of Moran of the Burning Spear by President Mwai Kibaki. Four years later in 2016, the Safaricom boss won the award of African Investor, International Business Leader. A year later, in 2017, Bob won African Investor CEO of the Year award.