KQ Chairman Appointed as Bob Collymore’s Interim Successor

The current KQ Chairperson and Safaricom Board Member Michael Joseph has been appointed as Safaricom’s interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO) replacing Robert (Bob) William Collymore who succumbed to cancer on Monday morning.

In a statement, the Telco said that Michael Joseph will hold the position until the Safaricom board permanent replacement is found, he is back at the helm after leaving the firm nine years ago.

“Following the passing on of the Company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Robert (Bob) William Collymore on 1 July 2019, at a Special Board meeting of the Directors’ that was held on even date.The Board resolved to appoint Mr Michael Joseph, a Board member of the Company, as the interim Chief Executive Officer of the Company with immediate effect,” the statement issued by Company Secretary Kathryne Maundu stated.

Michael Joseph previously served as the CEO of the firm following its re-launch as a joint-venture between Vodafone UK and Telkom Kenya from July 2000 until his retirement in November 2010.

During his tenure as CEO at Safaricom, mobile phone-based money transfer service M-Pesa was launched, placing Kenya as a  hub for financial services innovations.

When leaving the telco in 2011, Safaricom had doubled its profits to Ksh 13.1 Bn (USD 127 Mn) from Ksh 5.8 Bn (USD 56 Mn ) in 2005 while the M-Pesa revenue tripled from Ksh 370 Mn (USD 3.5 Mn) in 2008 to Ksh11.78 Bn (USD 114,573 )

Joseph also works with the World Bank as a  consultant on matters of deepening financial services in developing countries.

The telco has been disputing over Collymore’s successor over time even as unconfirmed reports indicated that the firm had conducted interviews on various candidates before settling on an unidentified foreign national. However, the Government objected his appointment on grounds that the new CEO must be a Kenyan.

Collymore previously said that having the right skills is more important than nationality. “You have to get the right person for the job. It might be a Kenyan; it might not be a Kenyan,” he was quoted by Business Daily.

Featured Image Courtesy:www.sde.co.ke