Njonjo, six others banned as officials of listed companies

By James Anyanzwa

The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has banned seven directors of the trouble-ridden Cooper Motors Corporation Holdings from sitting on the boards of all listed companies.

At the same time, the market regulator has recommended the recovery from two directors of an amount equivalent to twice the amount of benefits accruing to them from their fraudulent offshore transactions.

Those who have been disqualified include two executive directors (Martin Forster and Sobakchad Shah) and five non-executive directors – Charles Njonjo, Peter Muthoka, Jeremiah Kiereini, Richard Kemoli and Andrew Hamilton.

The authority also blacklisted Joseph Kivai but only with respect to his directorship at the CMC Holdings.

Chairman Kung’u Gatabaki said the latest action was informed by the findings of the investigation by Webber Wentzel and the team from CMA.

He said CMA’s action had been delayed due to myriad court cases with regard to the motor vehicle dealer, which had been filed in court. “It has been a very taxing period for us. We could do nothing because we do observe instructions particularly coming from the courts,” Gatabaki told a media briefing in Nairobi on Friday.

The authority, at the same time, recommended stringent requirement for directors seeking nomination on the boards of listed companies.