Marriage, social life, salary? Five notable things about Bob Collymore’s life

The passing on of Safaricom’s Chief Executive Officer Boby Collymore has come as a shocker to many, while to others, who were privy to his ailment, it was expected soon.

Definitely, for a man who is a household name in Kenya and some overseas countries, he will remain a corporate titan of no mean repute.

The story of his life’s success will live to be told and celebrated even at his death.

Despite having worked for the biggest telecommunication industry in Eastern and Central Africa, less is known about his private life.

Here are five things about his life that perhaps will make you understand who Bob Collymore is and what he went through in his journey of life.

1. Background and education

According to Wikipedia, Collymore was born in Guyana and raised by his grandparents there. At the age of 16, he moved to join his mother in the United Kingdom, attending Selhurst High School.

Upon leaving school, he was offered a place at Warwick University but had to turn the opportunity down as he was ineligible for funding. Further details about his University education is yet to be made public at the time of penning this article.

2. Marriage

Speaking to local media early December 2018, the CEO opened up on his marriage and revealed that he has been married three times but divorced twice.

According to him, the first marriage, in his 20s, was a mistake. For the second one, he said: “how the marriage was conducted was a mistake.”

He allegedly divorced his wife sometime in 2012 in a drawn-out case in the UK after irreconcilable differences. Unconfirmed reports say he had two children from a previous marriage.

Details of his first marriage remain scanty. When asked about it, he hardly provided personal information.

Until his death, Collymore was married to Kenyan woman, Ms Clare Wambui Kamiru. They held an invite-only wedding in Kitisuru Nairobi in April 2016.

The two met during a fundraiser for survivors of the Loreto Convent Msongari school bus crash that occurred in July 2011. Wambui was part of the event in her capacity as an alumnus, and Collymore was there representing Safaricom Foundation with fundraising.

3. Wambui and Ex-husband

According to her website, Wambui is the founder of The Art Space, an independent commercial art gallery situated on Riverside Drive, Nairobi.

She was an ex-wife to Joseph Kenyua. The two were married for close to five years and blessed with twins before they divorced. The twins have been living with their mother to date.

Kenyua is the owner of Kenwest Cables; which deals with the manufacturing, sale, and distribution of electrical copper and aluminum cables and conductors.

Born in a wealthy family, Joseph Kenyua, a football diehard. He coaches young kids, and he is the organizer of Amateur Football League.

4. Social life

Bob was a Sociable man who mingled with people. From showbiz industry to media personalities he had notable friends whom he could meet and interact with.

Gospel musician Juliani, Jimmy Gait and media personalities Julie Gichuru, Jeff Koinange, Maina Kangeni were some of his notable friends.

Just like any other typical social media user, he made fun where necessary, wished people he knew a happy birthday and at times responded to people inquiring about Safaricom services on his Twitter page.

His last tweet was about a petition he signed to criminalize rape in Senegal. In the tweet, he expressed hope in seeing gender-based violence is eradicated.

On Saturday he told Jeff Koinange, who visited him in the company of his friends, his time in this world was over.

According to Jeff, his death was expected because his doctor had told him he might not go beyond July.

“We visited him two days ago. We had known this is coming; he told us he has lived a good life. He walked us to the do to our cars, and we said bob let us know when we can see you again and we said goodbye. Unfortunately, I got a call today morning that he has passed on,” Jeff told a local TV.

5. Wealth

In his individual assets declaration 2015, Collymore revealed he earns Ksh 10 Million a month, adding up to close to Sh109 million per year.

The Safaricom boss also revealed that he is also worth over Sh200 million in assets and cash both in Kenya and overseas.