Safaricom PLC lost its Chief Executive Officer Robert (Bob) Collymore on the morning of Monday, and it left Kenya telecommunications giant Safaricom with a void to fill. Former CEO Michael Joseph has now been appointed to lead the company in an interim.
The Kenyan government,which owns 35% of Safaricom delayed the appointment of his successor, and has insisted that a local is picked to succeed him. In a twist, during a special meeting of the board of directors held on Monday, it was agreed that Mr Joseph would take over with immediate effect to keep the company going.
Mr Joseph will hold this position until the board communicates in due course, on a permanent appointment,” Safaricom said in a statement on Tuesday.
Michael Joseph sits on the Safaricom board and is also the current chairman of Kenya Airways. Joseph, who previously worked as the company’s chief executive until 2010 when Collymore took over, is a member of its board, and chairman of Kenya Airways Plc.
Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore succumbed to cancer yesterday morning. He took over from Mr Joseph in November 2010.
Mr Joseph retired from Safaricom in 2010 after overseeing the telecom’s growth from a scrappy mobile operator to a market leader.
Safaricom, which is 35% owned by South Africa’s Vodacom, controls about 62% of Kenya’s mobile market, with 30 million subscribers. Britain’s Vodafone has a 5% stake and the Kenyan government owns 35%.
