Senior Safaricom Officials Shy Away from Collymore’s Position!

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Michael Joseph who was named as the acting CEO for Safaricom after the death of Bob Collymore. Photo/File

Even as the top Telco company Safaricom continue to shortlist potential candidates for the CEO position left vacant after the death of former boss Bob Collymore, new details are now emerging concerning the interests of the senior Safaricom officials to take up the mantle.

In an exclusive interview with a local media house, Acting Safaricom Chief Executive officer Michael Joseph said officials currently serving in various senior capacities in the telecommunications company were not ready to fill the late Collymore’s shoes at the moment.

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A section of Safaricom’s top officials with the newly appointed Acting CEO Michael Joseph. Photo/COURTESY

Michael observed that out of all the shortlisted candidates, none of the names belonging to any of the current serving top officials at the company appeared despite the recent clamour for a Kenyan to take up the position.

“At this point, we (board) though none of the ex-com (executive committee) were ready for this role, today,” Joseph who is a board member said, adding that Safaricom is a “special company” and the C-suite cannot be handed to just anyone.

“You don’t just put somebody there, because they are there,” he said during the interview on Tuesday night. It is for this reason that the Safaricom board, which he has been a member of since his retirement in 2010, settled on him rather than choosing from its Executive Committee members, he added.

However, four names out of the 10 senior most officials which had been forwarded for the caretaker role included Chief Customer Officer Sylvia Mulinge, Chief Financial Officer Sateesh Kamath, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Stephen Chege, and Chief Special Projects Officer, Joseph Ogutu.

The search for the company’s new CEO had started 18 months ago before the expiry of Bob Collymore’s contract in August 2018 and the board had even come to a decision. The decision was however delayed after it emerged that the government had indirectly rooted for a local Kenyan CEO.

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Bob Collymore when he appeared before the government Committee. Photo/File

The board had short-listed candidates following a worldwide search, but mounting pressure from those pushing for a Kenyan candidate soared forcing them to delay the announcement.

Kenyans have so far expressed their views concerning who should be recruited as the next CEO. According to the views of many, a foreigner should be appointed and not a fellow Kenyan who according to them will be used badly by the local authorities who seems to have developed a lot of interests for the position.

Many termed corruption as their main reason why a Kenyan should not be appointed.

 

 

 

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