Diageo picks KBL boss John Musunga to head Nigeria Guiness firm
KBL Managing Director John Musunga will be leaving his role for Nigeria in a month. He has been appointed to a similar position at Guinness Nigeria PLC.
Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL) Managing Director (MD) John Musunga will be leaving his role for West Africa in a month, after he was appointed to a similar position at Guinness Nigeria PLC, a Diageo subsidiary.
In a statement, the East African Breweries Limited (EABL) said Mr Musunga officially reports in the new role from November 1, 2022, replacing Mr Baker Magunda, who has retired. Mr Musunga has served as KBL’s MD since March last year.
He replaced current EABL Group MD Jane Karuku, after she was promoted to the position.
EABL on Tuesday commended Mr Musunga for leading the business through recovery from impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic “and recorded phenomenal growth.”
“His work over the last 19 months has been outstanding, especially his leadership in helping our Kenya business navigate and emerge stronger through the pandemic. He is passionate for driving business results through the power of strong teams and creating an environment where people can be at their best. We wish him the best in the next phase of this career journey,” Ms Karuku said.
By the time of rising to become KBL MD, Mr Musunga had served in the business world for about 25 years, holding leadership roles at GSK, with senior positions in Eastern Africa, Southern Africa and Europe.
He is now the fourth high ranking official at KBL and EABL to get promotion to other subsidiaries of Diageo, the parent company in about a year, after Ms Ednah Otieno joined Diageo in Great Britain as Human Resources Director in July last year. Ms Otieno served as the Group HR Director at EABL.
Later in October, Alvin Mbugua joined Diageo’s Caribbean and Central America region as Managing Director, to steer the company’s largest beer business unit in Latin America and the Caribbean and in January this year, Eric Kanja, former KBL Head of Commercial Finance, joined as Finance Director in Diageo Japan.
