Safaricom founding CEO Michael Joseph has come out to reveal the reasons he decided to quit his plum job as the telco’s board chair.
Joseph was appointed Safaricom board chair in August 2020 following the retirement of former chairman Nicholas Nganga.
Joseph was Safaricom‘s founding CEO before he became a Board Director and later a CEO on the untimely death of the late Bob Collymore.
Joseph, who says he has consulted widely before making the decision to resign, is now focused on the new Safaricom Ethiopia business and Kenya Airways, where he is the board chairman.
“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,” Joseph said.
“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.
Michael Joseph’s role henceforth
Joseph however says that he is not taking a step back from the business world, as he will continue to engage in other business opportunities.
“While there is indeed a right time in any man or woman’s life to take a step back from business and devote more time to enjoying life, in my case, this will probably not happen yet as I will continue to participate in other interesting business opportunities available,” Joseph added.
He said that he 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.
“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,” he added.
Joseph’s position will be taken over by John Ngumi.
