John Ngumi quits KQ board after four years
John Ngumi was one of the favourite appointees to the boards of plum parastatals, but his fortunes have changed for the worse under the reign of President William Ruto during which he has exited the boards of Safaricom and now KQ, two firms in which the government has a significant stake.
Investment banker and boardroom veteran John Ngumi has resigned from the Board of national carrier Kenya Airways (KQ) bringing to a close a run of four years in the top decision-making organ of the airline.
Mr Ngumi was one of the favourite appointees to the boards of plum parastatals, but his fortunes have changed for the worse under the reign of President William Ruto during which he has exited the boards of Safaricom and now KQ, two firms in which the government has a significant stake.
In a notice released by KQ Board chairman Michael Joseph, Mr Ngumi, who has been serving as the chairman of the Board’s Audit and Risk Committee, said he is satisfied with the work he has put in at the airline and leaves the arena for others to build on it.
“My departure is motivated by my belief that now the tough work of stabilising KQ is starting to bear fruit, it is the right time for others to come in and build on the transformational platform that the Board and management of KQ have created,” said Mr Ngumi.
“I remain a firm believer in KQ’s strategic and economic importance to Kenya and I am confident that before long Kenyans will also recognise that KQ is worthy and deserving of the critical and invaluable support it has received and continues receiving from the Kenyan government,” he added.
Mr Ngumi has served four years on the KQ board, having been elected in June 2019 to replace Jason Kapkirwok who had retired.
KQ has picked James David Kabeberi to replace Mr Ngumi.
KQ audit and risk committee
“The board announces the resignation of Mr Ngumi as an independent non-executive director of the company,” the board announced.
Mr Kabeberi has been serving as an ex-officio member of KQ’s audit and risk committee.
This is the second board exit by Mr Ngumi in five months, having resigned as the chairman of the Safaricom Board in January after just five months on the job.
Mr Ngumi, who was replaced by lawyer Adil Khawaja as the Safaricom board chairman, was seen as a blue-eyed boy in the administration of Mr Kenyatta.
This saw him handed chairman positions in, among others, the Industrial & Commercial Development Corporation (ICDC), which was in charge of the Kenya Transport & Logistics Network that had Kenya Ports Authority, Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) and Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC).
He came under scrutiny last month after it emerged that he was a transaction advisor in the Sh6.09 billion sale of Telkom Kenya to the government of Kenya that took place just days before the general election last year.
