Outgoing Safaricom board chairman now says he resigned from his position to concentrate on other matters including Safaricom new venture in Ethiopia and the restricting of national carrier Kenya Airways.
In a statement moments after stepping down, Joseph said he had consulted widely before resigning, creating space for John Ngumi to become the new Safaricom board chair.
“Prior to making this decision, I consulted widely including discussions with our main shareholders, the Government of Kenya, Vodacom and Vodafone, the Board and of course with Peter (Ndegwa), our CEO,” said Joseph.
“I want to devote more time to supporting Safaricom’s investment in Ethiopia and relinquishing the role of Chairman allows me the flexibility and freedom to undertake this important role on behalf of Safaricom. This will also allow me to devote more time to Kenya Airways during this critical time to ensure that we continue the work of restructuring and refinancing for KQ to remain on the journey towards profitability in the next 2 years,” he added.
Read: John Ngumi Appointed Safaricom Board Chairman
Joseph is the founding CEO for Safaricom before he became a Board Director. He went back to being the CEO following the untimely death of the late Bob Collymore and finally as Chairman of the Board upon the retirement of the previous Chairman, Nicholas Nganga.
“I will remain as a Director on the Board, subject to approval, for the next few years to continue advising and supporting the Company generally through this transition, and support the Board to drive the Company’s strategic agenda as well as to provide continuity and transition guidance to our new Chairman,” he added.
‘This is also the right time for me to step down as Chairman, as Peter has now been CEO for two and a half years during which time we worked closely as part of transition. The strategic direction for the Company has been clearly set and approved by the Board.”
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