Safaricom has named Peter Ndegwa as the company’s new CEO.
Ndegwa will assume office on April 1, 2020.
He will be joining Safaricom from Diageo PLC. The company had named Micheal Joseph as its Interim CEO after the death of Bob Collymore.
ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru has maintained Collymore's positions will be taken by a Kenyan.“I don’t think the government position has changed, we would still love to see a Kenyan. However like any other company, they (Safaricom) have a choice as to who they want to be their CEO,” Mucheru told during a past interview.
He also defended the appointment of Michael Joseph in the acting capacity, saying he is a good choice for the position
“It’s not as if the company is crippled. Having Michael is a bonus for us as he has been there before and it gives Safaricom time to pick the right person to run the business,” he added.
Leaders from different political factions felt it was the high time a Kenyan took over the position.
Ndegwa's appointment has already started to elicit mixed reactions from different factions. Here are some of the reactions we sampled.