KQ picks NSE boss Kiprono Kittony, David Ndii in Board shake-up

From left: Chris Diaz, Kiprono Kittony and David Ndii appointed in the KQ Board. [File,Standard]

Kenya Airways has appointed four new board members, including President Ruto's former chief economic adviser, to steady a troubled airline he personally pledged to revive.

Nairobi Securities Exchange chairperson and businessman Kiprono Kittony takes over as the new KQ Board chairperson,and independent non-executive director, replacing Michael Joseph, who retired in June 2025.

Kittony is joined by Chris Diaz, Prof Winnie Iminza Nyamute, and former President Ruto advisor David Ndii on the Board, effective Thursday, March 5.

The move follows months of turbulence at the top. The exits of Chief Executive Allan Kilavuka and Joseph created a leadership vacuum that threw off the national carrier's search for a strategic investor.

President Ruto announced on February 22 that the entire Board was to be overhauled, and the new appointments appear to be the direct result of that order.

The most eyebrow-raising pick is Ndii. He most recently chaired the Presidential Council of Economic Advisors, serving as principal economic policy adviser to Ruto, before a High Court ruling in January 2026 declared the office unconstitutional.

Justice Bahati Mwamuye ruled that the Executive had bypassed both the Public Service Commission and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) in creating and staffing the advisory roles, and barred the National Treasury from disbursing any funds for salaries or benefits to the 21 former advisers.

Ndii dismissed the ruling as a "pyrrhic victory," arguing that advisers did not need state offices to guide the president. "We don't need state offices to advise the President. We supported him for two years on the road to victory. We can do it as an informal kitchen cabinet over breakfast every morning," he said.

Ndii's relationship with Kenya Airways is not new. Years before joining Ruto's government, he publicly questioned the logic of continuing to bail out the carrier, asking whether KQ was a case of sunk cost fallacy.

He now joins the Board of the very airline he once suggested might not be worth saving.

Kittony currently chairs the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), the bourse on which Kenya Airways shares trade. The announcement did not address how Kittony intends to manage the two roles.

Beyond the NSE, Kittony co-founded Betway Kenya and Radio Africa Group, advises a private equity fund in Amsterdam and serves as vice chairman of the World Chambers Federation in Paris.

He holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Law from the University of Nairobi as well as a Global Executive MBA from the United States International University (USIU) and Columbia University.

Nyamute, an associate professor of finance at the University of Nairobi and a fellow of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK), also sits on the NSE Board, meaning she and Kittony now share two boardrooms simultaneously.

She additionally serves on the boards of Sameer Africa and Family Bank Limited.

Chris Diaz, who chairs Adili Group and sits on the Board of Bidco Africa, has prior experience at Kenya Airways and the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA).

The announcement describes him as the first African to win the Global Marketing Leader of the Year award.

The Board changes come as KQ presents a contradictory financial picture. The airline posted a Sh5.4 billion profit in 2024, its first in 11 years, after outgoing CEO Kilavuka implemented a cost-cutting strategy that pulled the carrier back from the brink.

However, the airline closed June 2025 with a negative equity position of Sh129.5 billion, deteriorating from negative Sh118.2 billion in June 2024, leaving it deeply undercapitalised despite the headline profit.

The government holds 48.9 per cent of shares through the National Treasury and has floated plans to attract a foreign strategic investor, yet that search has repeatedly stalled.