How these newsmakers and their organisations helped shape 2015

It has been a dramatic year. This is the year when the humble, soft-spoken and austere Dr Patrick Njoroge rose to the high seat of Central Bank of Kenya as governor with, ironically, a bang.

Safaricom’s Bob Collymore and his buddy Joshua Oigara of KCB declared their wealth. The year also saw Dr Jeniffer Riria amass accolades like no other year.

But there were hard times. Jonathan Ciano formerly CEO of Uchumi was shown the door, and for Mbuvi Ngunze of Kenya Airways whose shoes that he inherited from Titus Naikuni were really hurting.

Patrick Njoroge, Governor Central Bank of Kenya

Before he was appointed the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Governor, not very many people knew anything about Dr Patrick Njoroge. But he was vetted by Parliamentary Committee, his name was on every one’s lips. The former IMF advisor surprised many Kenyans by turning down a handsome perk which included a luxurious car and mansion. Dr Njoroge told the committee that he did not own property in Kenya.
Instead, the staunch Roman Catholic Church member, preferred to live a celibate life in a communal home with six other Opus Dei members in Loresho Estate Nairobi. Opus Dei is a branch of the Catholic Church which teaches that ordinary life is a path to sanctity. On its website, it says Opus Dei members aim at: “Humility, justice, integrity, and solidarity” and to work “hard and well, honestly and fairly.” And it was not long before Dr Njoroge’s religious practices came to bear in his work.

Under his watch, two banks-Dubai Bank and Imperial Bank of Kenya- were shut down for mismanagement. Dr Njoroge, 54, has also been open and approachable, making numerous press briefings and meeting Parliament several times since he came in. His immediate task was to anchor inflation and stabilise the currency. The shilling was depreciating at a fast rate. Dr Njoroge was forced to raise the benchmark interest rate by 150 basis points to 11.5 per cent.

He also tightened liquidity to bolster the shilling after it fell 8.7 percent against the dollar in the first half of 2015. As a result the currency has declined by 0.3 per cent to stand at Sh102 against the dollar for the last several weeks. “What my religious beliefs shape is me, the way I relate to people, the way I relate to tasks....When I deal with people, I respect them. It’s not just a game,” the Phd holder of Yale University was quoted by Bloomberg.

Safaricom CEO, Bob Collymore

Bob Collymore, the chief executive officer of Safaricom, one of East Africa’s most profitable firms. But that is not really the reason he has made it into this list. Mr Collymore set himself apart this year by becoming the first CEO of a private company to publicly declare his wealth raising the transparency bar higher. The 54-year old Guyana-born said that he takes home about Sh9 million in a month.
Although some people saw the move as merely populist even as others decried his huge salary in a poverty-stricken country where almost half of the population lives on less than a dollar, the man had made his point and would go into the history books as the first CEO of a private company to put bear his wealth.

In a move which saw the social media go bonkers is hoped to change the narrative on graft in a country where people have been known to loot from the public coffers without remorse. Kenyans on Twitter (KOT) under the hashtag #DeclareYourWealth piled pressure on other public officials to follow suit and declare their wealth.

The CEO who has had a long stint in telecommunications managing various telecommunication firms outside Kenya, has adapted well to the Kenyan environment. So much that he was awarded the Moran of the Burning Spear by former President Mwai Kibaki in 2012 – “a prize rarely given to foreigners,” according to a British publication.

Joshua Oigara, CEO of KCB Group

Bob Collymore’s bug of declaring wealth infected the CEO of Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Joshua Oigara.

Just a day after Collymore’s unprecedented move, Oigara who is also the chairman of Kenya Bankers Association said that he was worth Sh220 million which was made up of total assets of Sh350 million and loan obligations of Sh130 million.

Oigara revealed that his salary in a month was Sh4.9 million. Like Collymore, he said that his decision was informed by the need to remove secrecy in organisational operations. The 40-year old manages Kenya’s biggest bank in the country by asset-size.

James Mworia, CEO, Centum

When James Mworia rose to the rank of CEO at Centum Investments in 2008, he was the CEO with the least age, but certainly not with the least strategy. Since his first day in office, Mworia made it clear that he was a stickler of excellence. His employees had to demonstrate their value. But he went beyond just demanding excellence.

He also rewarded excellence, as he believed that work well done has to be well paid. And so this year, following an excellent performance in which the company’s net profits rose by 160 per cent to Sh7.9 billion, he doubled the bonus payout to Centum’s 90 staff to Sh1 billion in the year ended March, making it one of the largest bonus allotment in corporate Kenya translating into an average entitlement of Sh11.1 million per employee.

This continued the company’s policy of performance-based compensation. Mr Mworia whose tenure at the helm of the investment has seen its assets grow more than seven times also won the All African Business Leaders Awards (AABLA)’s East Africa Business Person of the Year Award for the year 2015.

Julius Kipng’etich, CEO Uchumi Supermarkets

It’s said one’s true character becomes visible in times of a crisis. We dare add that one’s credibility can be best tested during times of crisis.

Although there is not much that can be pointed out as having been achieved by Julius Kipng’etich since he took over from Jonathan Ciano who was shown the door for allegations of gross misconduct, the former Equity Bank chief operating officer, has been a busy man.
Immediately he came in, he identified stores and employees that were not worth remaining in the financial books of Uchumi.

The retail store announced plans to sell a 20-acre piece of land it owns in Kasarani, Nairobi, priced at over Sh2.2 billion ($22 million) as it works to settle outstanding debts owed to suppliers.

In addition, he closed down its Maua and Syokimau branches in addition to exiting Uganda and Tanzania markets. But he did not end it there, he also sought the services of a HR firm to probe the conduct of former employees some of whom are feared to have defrauded the retail store.

Although Kipng’etich has not achieved much in terms of stabilizing the supermarket, these efforts earned him a rare accolade from some commentators who saw in all those efforts, success already. So far, Kipng’etich is only credited for turning around the fortunes of Kenya Wildlife Services, where he was formerly CEO. Time will tell how he fares on this new assignment.

Jeniffer Riria, CEO Kenya Women Holdings

Perhaps there is no Kenyan who has hauled home more awards this year as Dr Jeniffer Riria, the CEO of Kenya Women Holdings and founder of Kenya Women Microfinance Finance Trust (KWFT) Bank. Dr Riria, who is among the first persons to start banking on women, believes that all efforts to grow the size of our economy will always come to a naught if we continue excluding women from the centre of things, more so the financial sector.

This is a belief she has held on strongly, and for it she has been recognised far and wide. Among some of the awards that she won this year include Africa Economy Builders Award which was presented to her in Ivory Coast; the Lifetime Achievement Award for Africa in Financial Services at the Africa’s Most Influential Women Award in Business and Government.

Dr Ririria also won the Financial Services Achievement Award at the same event. These awards add to others that had won before including the Ernst & Young (EY) Entrepreneur of the year, East Africa 2013; the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2014, at which point she was admitted to EY’s Global Hall of Fame. Dr Riria is also the recipient of the Ford Foundation’s “Champion of Democracy” award for her roles both as a leader of the TUVUKE Initiative and as Group CEO of Kenya Women Finance Trust has now cast its fight for gender equality on another frontier-political empowerment.

Tabitha Karanja, CEO Keroche Breweries

When President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the war against illicit drinks, a war that has since been condemned for the manner in which it was recklessly conducted, one of the casualties was Keroche Breweries. Some rowdy youths who had taken upon themselves the work of rooting out this menace descended on one of Karanja’s plant.

Ms Karanja protested. She said hers were not illicit, second generation drinks and that she had been licensed to do the business. She read mischief in the whole saga that left beers worth millions of shillings destroyed. In a press briefing, an emotional Ms Karanja wondered why Keroche Breweries, “a company that was single-handedly built from scratch by the efforts of a local woman from Naivasha” was being targeted. As they say, it never rains but it pours.

No sooner had Karanja finished licking her wounds following the raids than another ordeal cropped up. This time round it came from the taxman. Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) threatened to shut down her business for allegedly not complying with certain tax laws. The company did not appear in the two of KRA’s list of companies licensed to manufacture, import or be in possession of alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks. 2015 has been all darkness for Karanja, hopefully the sun will shine in 2016.

Amina Mohamed, CS Ministry of Foreign Affairs & International Trade

She might not have been feisty enough or been involved in so many bruising battles to earn herself the title ‘iron-lady,’ nonetheless Amina Mohamed is a force to reckon with. At least in 2015, when Kenya and Africa, for the first time, hosted World Trade Organisation’s tenth ministerial conference, Ms Amina showed the world that she is really made of steel.

Way before the talks started, Ms Amina set the tone for the talks by insisting that the Nairobi meeting had to succeed. And succeed it did. As the chair of the conference, Amina did not only midwife the talks to their successful completion, she also ensured that it went on well and the over 6,000 delegates were well taken care of. As debatable as the results of the talks might be (whether truly the developing countries left the meeting better than they came into it), Amina’s place in history is well reserved.
Even more critical to Kenyans is that she went out of her way to explain to the general populace what MC10 was all about.

She shuttled from one media briefing to the next. Indeed, so commonplace had she become that some people could actually recite what she was going to say. Her deep vast experience and passion on multicultural trade must have been critical to the success of the talks. And, few people would disagree that her smile was so warm that it melted away all the doubts to the success of the talks.

Jonathan Ciano, former CEO Uchumi Supermarkets

2015 has been good to some CEOs and business managers, but as expected it was harsh to others. One such person that the year was harsh on was former CEO of Uchumi Supermarkets was Jonathan Ciano. There is no doubt that Jonathan Ciano left Uchumi Supermarkets in a huff.

His exit from the country’s fourth largest retail chain was not as ceremonious as his entry had been. Ciano who had received much acclaim after steering the Supermarket from receivership, this time round found himself on the receiving end after Uchumi started sinking into debts. By the time he was kicked out Uchumi’s executive office for alleged gross misconduct, the firm owed its suppliers more than Sh10 billion in debts. Mr Ciano insisted he had not been sacked but had a mutual agreement between him and the Board, but subsequent events would tell a different story.

Recently, his successor Kipng’etich revealed that former Uchumi Supermarkets executives manipulated financial books to the tune of Sh1.04 billion in the last three years. In its full year results to June 2015, it was reported that former management cooked books to puff earnings giving a false picture of the retailer’s financial health. Mr Ciano was kicked out alongside chief finance offer Chadwick Omondi in what the board termed “gross misconduct and gross negligence.”

Eroll Johnston, new CEO Mumias Sugar

Shareholders of sugar miller Mumias Sugar are among the few people that would not wish to remember 2015. The sugar miller sunk into debts, KQ-style and was forced to shut down its operations, as they awaited some help from anywhere. The help did eventually come in the form of a government bailout of Sh1 billion. But Mumias also got another help, Eroll Johnston who had initially headed the company from 1998 to 2001, was named the company’s CEO. Now, Mumias Sugar’s problems effectively become his problems. And as 2015 closes, all eyes will be on Mr Johnston to ensure that Mumias returns to profitability, sugar is produced optimally, and farmers are paid their dues. This a second calling for Mr Johnson who in his previous assignment helped bring Mumias back on its feet under when the management of the firm was under Booker Tate. So far, Kenyans are yet to feel the presence of Mr Johnston, but time will tell if this time round he will be lucky second time.

Mbuvi Ngunze, CEO Kenya Airways

Some of the juiciest business news of 2015 had national carrier, Kenya Airways (KQ), and the name or photo of the airline’s CEO Mbuvi Ngunze in the same headline. When Kenya Airways announced the jaw-breaking Sh25.7 loss, it was Ngunze who was right there to deal with all the looks of disbelief as media cameras probed his face in search of a streak of sweat. And his predicaments would continue with every date that he had with the Senate’s Parliamentary committee led by Kisumu Senator Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o.

Meanwhile, because not much proper explanations to the unprecedented loss were forthcoming, Kenyans on social media did what they know best- parody. Kenyans on social media’s explanations for the record-breaking loss was hilarious. A good number joked that KQ’s record-breaking loss must have resulted from its employment of ugly air-hostesses, at least when compared to its competitors — the Ethiopian Airlines.

Ngunze must have been hit hard by such talks as well. It did not take Ngunze long from the day he took over from his predecessor Titus Naikuni whose term had come to an end, before the cracks began appearing. But was it really Ngunze’s fault that things were falling apart at KQ? This trend would continue until late into the month when the company announced their half year results. One can only hope that 2016 will offer Mr Ngunze much-needed reprieve.

Hassan Zubeidi, founder and chairman of Dubai Bank

Hassan Zubeidi, the chairman of Dubai Bank of Kenya, has been a man under-siege for the better part of the year that his bank was put under statutory management for flouting statutory regulations.

The lender had fallen behind on its debt obligations. It had also failed to meet the regulatory cash reserve ratio (CRR) requirement of 5.25 per cent. He is alleged to have used depositors’ funds to guarantee his private companies to the tune of Sh1.6 billion.

In court papers, the CBK argues that Mr Zubeidi used customers’ deposits to guarantee his firm, Africa Energy Limited Sh1.39 billion and Sh205 million without security. But if the spotlight was so much on Mr Zubeidi than the bank, it was for right reasons. His dealings at the bank were suspect and so was his nationality. At some point he is reported to have told a High Court judge that he could neither remember when he was born in Lamu nor when he acquired his identity card.

Mr Zubeidi could not even recall his ID number. He also could not verify how he had studied in Dubai, Yemen and Kenya. Ms Nereah Said, Dubai Bank’s managing director who fell out with Mr Zubeidi in November 2012, claimed that weak governance structures abetted by the lender’s chairman and principal shareholder, Mr Zubeidi, had exposed the bank to extensive fraud and theft of funds. Some people believe Zubeidi was really in thick of all these.

Dawood Rawat, former Britam shareholder

He was the single-largest shareholder in Britam. But his stake was seized by the Mauritius in April for allegedly perpetrating a $693 million (Sh70.8 billion) Ponzi scheme in the Indian Ocean Island nation. Reports that Mr Dawood Rawat who at the start of this year held a 23 per cent stake in investment firm Britam was running a Ponzi scheme sent shockwaves among shareholders of Britam. Rawat, a Mauritian citizen, initially unknown to Kenyans was alleged to have channeled new customers’ premiums to settle older policies that had matured and were due in what was said described to have the markings of a Ponzi. A Sh40 billion hole was discovered in Rawat’s insurance business. In the suspected fraud, Rawat was accused of collecting customer one-time premiums on an investment product called SuperCashBack Plan Gold on the promise of repaying an interest or bonus of between 10 and 14 per cent. Luckily, Britam’s shareholders were handed a major reprieve after the Mauritius government said it would join the financial services firm’s board and take up the directorships held by fugitive billionaire Rawat. The tiny Indian Ocean country took over most of the wealth and companies owned by its richest citizen. Mauritius is currently shopping for a buyer to acquire the Britam stake, which is currently valued at Sh6.1 billion, to compensate investors who lost cash in the alleged pyramid scheme.