Former Kenya Airways (KQ) CEO, Titus Naikuni, has landed a new job in South Africa, as the director of Tata Chemicals.
Naikuni is the current technical advisor to Tata Chemicals Magadi Ltd CEO.
Naikuni resigned KQ in November 2014, a month to his retirement under unclear circumstances.
Speaking to the Star, Naikuni revealed that he received his appointment letter on Friday that details his duties as director of the Durban-based Tata Chemicals South Africa.
“I am ready to take up my new assignments as directed at the multinational company. We are going to be more focused on improving the products from Kenya and the United States of America, and to improve our products the world over,” said Naikuni.
“This is my new challenge and I am up to the task as I became part of the multinational family’s directors.”
Born in November 1953, Titus Tukero Naikuni attended Cardinal Maurice Otunga High School in Kisii. After this, he studied mechanical engineering at the University of Nairobi and began his career in 1979, as a trainee engineer at the Magadi Soda Company, rising to become Managing Director.
Naikuni is considered one of the most visible CEOs and can be described as eccentric and flamboyant, having been chief executive and managing director of the airline for over one decade since his appointment in February 2003.
He is also credited with cutting down KQ’s bloated staff, an action that attracted uproar from politicians, labour unions and the civil society.
Tata Chemicals Limited Company is a manufacturer of soda ash and sodium bicarbonate for diverse industries, such as glass, detergents, silicates, textiles, food, pharmaceuticals, animal feed, mining, and chemical processing.
The Company operates through four segments: Inorganic Chemicals, which includes soda ash, salt, sodium bicarbonate, marine chemicals, caustic soda, and cement.