Days after Board Changes, Safaricom is Restructuring its Management

Following the selection of a new board chairman, Safaricom has made a number of changes at the highest management level.

Esther Masese, director of KCB Corporate Banking, has been named Chief Financial Services Officer with effect from February 21 and will be responsible for providing strategic leadership and oversight to the telco’s financial services business, according to the new appointments made public by CEO Peter Ndegwa on Wednesday.

Ms. Masese, who joined the lender in 2011 as the East African head of transactional products and services, spent ten years with Stanbic Bank prior to joining KCB.

She has also had positions with Commercial Bank of Africa and StanChart in the past (which merged with NIC Bank to form NCBA).

“She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of East Africa, Baraton and a Master of Business Administration from University of Liverpool, UK,” said Safaricom.

Masese takes over for Boniface Mungania, who has been filling in as needed since July of last year.

With effect from April 1, Mungania has been named Director of Public Sector Digital Transformation, with the responsibility of fostering public sector partnerships and advancing digital transformation for both the National and County administrations.

“In this role, he will collaborate with key functional owners including Enterprise, Financial Services, Technology and Business Development to deliver solutions in an agile way,” the telco said.

Masese takes over for Boniface Mungania, who has been filling in as needed since July of last year.

With effect from April 1, Mungania has been named Director of Public Sector Digital Transformation, with the responsibility of fostering public sector partnerships and advancing digital transformation for both the National and County administrations.

She graduated from the University of Cape Town with a bachelor’s in business.

The nominations came barely one week after retiring President Uhuru Kenyatta’s friend John Ngumi was replaced as board chairman by attorney Adil Khawaja.