KQ chairman Mwaniki set to retire after 10-year term

What you need to know:

Evanson Mwaniki leaves behind a mixed legacy, having chaired the board at a time when KQ thrived after privatisation, to now when the airline’s financial position has plummeted making it technically insolvent.

Evanson Mwaniki, the chairman of troubled national carrier Kenya Airways (KQ), is set to retire next month after a ten-year tenure.

Mr Mwaniki leaves behind a mixed legacy, having chaired the board at a time when Kenya Airways thrived after privatisation, to now when the airline’s financial position has plummeted making it technically insolvent.

Mr Mwaniki, who chaired the board that approved the ambitious Mawingu Project that has been cited as a major cause of KQ’s current financial woes, will exit the company in October after serving two five-year terms.

Mr Mwaniki failed to replicate the success of his first five years in the second term, which has seen the airline record losses three years in a row wiping out its shareholders’ funds.

KQ reported a record Sh25.7 billion after-tax loss in the financial year ending March. “Mr Mwaniki having served his full term, retires by rotation in accordance with Article 84 of the company’s Articles of Association and does not seek re-election,” said the company in a notice.

The exit marks the end of a long boardroom career for Mr Mwaniki in different listed companies including as chairman of British American Tobacco and the East African Breweries.

READ: Long-serving BAT Kenya chairman retires

He served in the board of BAT for 18 years before exiting in 2013 and 15 years in EABL, which he exited earlier this year.

Mr Mwaniki owns 42,378 shares of the listed airline, which are currently trading at Sh5.50 each making his portfolio worth Sh233,079.

KQ has witnessed entry of new faces to the board at a time when the company is under scrutiny following a year of record losses, and a change in top management following the departure of long-serving CEO Titus Naikuni, who was replaced by Mr Mbuvi Ngunze last year.

Veteran bankers Wanjiku Mugane and Caroline Armstrong-Ogwapit were elected to the KQ board last year joining Group Managing Director and chief executive Mbuvi Ngunze, Group Finance Director Alex Mbugua, Nduva Muli, Dennis Awori, Ron Schipper, Pieter Elbers, Dr Kamau Thugge, Vincent Rague and Joseph Veenstra (alternate to Elbers and Schipper).