Outgoing CEO’s invitation to join him surprises me

We had a good time in Nairobi and I am glad to be back in Mombasa. To be honest, I am happy to be home alone without Shiro, I feel like I am a bachelor all over again.

I am enjoying this temporary break, watching lots of football, and reliving those good old days when I was a carefree bachelor.

Though the freedom is welcome, there is also a part of me that misses having Shiro around and enjoying orderly life that comes with married life.

Now I have gone back to ironing my shirts and eating out, something that I had forgotten about.

This is quite bothersome because we are presently doing mid-year reviews of the business.

Sometimes I feel like the reviews are nothing but a beauty parade where we go back and forth with presentations and templates — something needs to be done.

Right now the head of operations is the acting CEO and he is really relishing the role of harassing us into towing the line.

During the recent farewell party, it was apparent that he was desperately sucking up to the board to offer him the job.

Looking back, we had a good time at the party. It took place at a swanky restaurant which served good wine and fine dining.

I felt really proud introducing Shiro as my wife because she looked quite spectacular, never mind the fact that I was Sh15,000 poorer thanks to her evening dress that made her look gorgeous.

Speeches started rather early and I was taken aback by how meticulously people had prepared them.

The HR manager gave a 10 minute speech on what an inspiration and visionary the outgoing CEO had been and how he had ‘‘mentored and shaped me into a business leader.”

Another speaker spoke about how the CEO was ‘‘always quick to action and responded to matters in a timely fashion.”

This was a lie because, based on my experience, the guy often took a week or longer to respond to a general inquiry.

What I found interesting about the whole thing was how at ease my colleagues appeared to be as they went on praising the boss.