Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore is officially back.
Notifying people on his twitter account Bob said, “I’m back. Thanks to everyone who supported me over the past 9 months especially the clinical team at @UCLH, my superb @SafaricomPLC team and of course my wife @WambuiKamiru”
Soon after Wambui Kamiru-Collymore, the wife of Bob Collymore, came out reacting to his recovery, saying that she was looking forward to “lovely” days waking up next to him.
In a tweet Ms. Wambui responded by posting a song by Bill Withers dubbed Lovely Day,
— Wambui K. Collymore (@WambuiKamiru) August 6, 2018
The leading telecommunications service provider boss, who has since returned to work, was away on sick leave for nine months.
He was seeking treatment at the University College London Hospitals.
Mr Collymore’s last public appearance was in May 2018, when he made a video-link address to investors during release of Safaricom’s full year financial results.
During the video-link address, the Safaricom CEO said he was in his final phase of treatment, where he assured investors that he would return as soon as his doctors cleared him to travel.
Mr Collymore made his debut appearance since May on Monday, August 6 thanking Safaricom and his wife for their support throughout the period he was in hospital.
And the ‘Safcom’ boss’ wife, Wambui Kamiru-Collymore, took to his timeline to express elation at her husband’s recovery and return to work.
Dedicating him Bill Withers’ song titled “Lovely Day”, Wambui added a smiley face emoji to her comment, which she tagged Mr Collymore and Safaricom.
Below are the lyrics of the song, which Wambui, presumably, wanted its message to reach her husband while unadulterated.
Mr Collymore appeared before the Parliamentary Communications Committee Monday, catching Kenyans, who were unaware of his return, off guard.
Mr Collymore, flanked by other top Safaricom officials, was sought to address legislative and regulatory gaps affecting competition in the telecommunications sector.
Safaricom Chief Financial Officer Sateesh Kamath, assisted by Director of Strategy and Innovation Joseph Ogutu, held Mr Collymore’s position in acting capacity during his absence.
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 this down as he was ineligible for funding.
From 1993, Collymore worked in various positions in the telecommunications industry in the UK, including work for Cellnet, Dixons Retail and Vodafone UK. In 2003 he moved to Japan to manage the integration of J-Phone into the Vodafone Group. In 2006 he became the governance director for Africa at Vodafone and subsidiary Safaricom. In 2010 he was appointed chief executive officer of Safaricom
Collymore married his second wife, Wambui Kamiru, on April 2nd 2016 in an invite-only wedding at an upmarket residence in Kitisuru, Nairobi.
Collymore met Kamiru in Nairobi 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.
Collymore has two stepdaughters from his wife’s first marriage to Joseph Kinyua.