KCB launches search for new chief executive

• Mr Oduor-Otieno, 56, is due to retire in April 2013 after the expiry of his second two-year term, which was granted in May 2010 nearly a year before the end of his first four-year tenure in April last year.
• Under his leadership, KCB grew its profits from Sh2.9 billion in 2007 to Sh10.9 billion last year, toppling Barclays Bank of Kenya as the country’s most profitable lender.
• Change comes at a time when the bank is in the middle of a major restructuring plan that saw it cut its executive suite by nearly half
• KCB’s boardroom is also going through a transition with the exit of three directors in May and planned retirement of three directors, including Mr Oduor-Otieno next year.

KCB Group has launched the search for a new CEO in time for the retirement of Martin Oduor-Otieno next April.

The regional bank has contracted consultancy firm Manpower to help identify the new CEO, which will further deepen the change in the composition of the KCB’s board and executive suite that began last year.

Mr Oduor-Otieno, 56, is due to retire in April 2013 after the expiry of his second two-year term, which was granted in May 2010 nearly a year before the end of his first four-year tenure in April last year.

“The bank is now looking to appoint a dynamic, energetic and experienced strategist to join and lead a vibrant team committed to growing the bank further,” read an advertisement in the current edition of the East African.

Yesterday, a director at the bank told the Business Daily that Mr Oduor-Otieno had opted not to seek another term.

“He was asked by the board in mid-September whether he was keen on the renewal of his contract and he said no,” said the director who requested anonymity.

Mr Oduor-Otieno joined the bank in October 2005 as deputy to then CEO, Terry Davidson, and took over in May 2007. He holds an MBA from ESAMI/Maastricht Business School and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Nairobi.

Under his leadership, KCB grew its profits from Sh2.9 billion in 2007 to Sh10.9 billion last year, a feat that saw the bank topple Barclays Bank of Kenya as the country’s most profitable lender.

The bank’s branches also grew from 100 to 222 in an expansion that saw it spread its wings to Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan, making KCB the first Kenyan bank to have a presence in all the six Eastern Africa countries. It set up shop in Tanzania in 1997.

The change in the bank’s corner office emerges at a time when the bank is in the middle of a major restructuring plan that saw it cut its executive suite by nearly half, leading to the exit of deputy CEOs Sam Kimani (now CEO, Jamii Bora Bank) and Peter Munyiri (CEO, Family Bank).

KCB’s boardroom is also going through a transition with the exit of three directors in May and planned retirement of three directors, including Mr Oduor-Otieno next year.

Directors Joseph Odongo and Musa Ndeto (the bank’s chairman) are scheduled to retire next year in line with KCB’s articles of association which state that one can only hold a directorship for a maximum of eight years.

This rule prompted the exit of three directors this year including Peter Muthoka (chairman), Susan Omanga and Sunil Shah.
They were replaced by General (Rtd) Joseph Kibwana, Charity Ngaruiya and Adil Khawaja, a lawyer at Hamilton Harrison & Mathews.

The new CEO will have to keep the bank lean, which will lower its cost to income ratio, and to deepen KCB’s regional footprint.