Mr Kiereini’s exit from the miller comes in a year that saw him replaced as chairman of the board of East African Breweries Limited (EABL) and quit as director of CFC Stanbic at a time when his name featured prominently in the vicious boardroom wars at motor dealer CMC Holdings.
Mr Kiereini had a 12.5 per cent stake in CMC.
Influential businessman Jeremiah Kiereini has quit the board of Unga Limited, ending a boardroom career that spanned more than 28 years at the Nairobi bourse-listed miller.
The company has informed shareholders through an annual report that Mr Kiereini, 82, along with chairman Richard Kemoli, quit in response to a directive by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) barring the two and six others from holding directorships in companies listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).
Mr Kiereini’s exit from the miller comes in a year that saw him replaced as chairman of the board of East African Breweries Limited (EABL) and quit as director of CFC Stanbic at a time when his name featured prominently in the vicious boardroom wars at motor dealer CMC Holdings.
“Mr R Kemoli (former chairman) resigned. Following a directive from the Capital Markets Authority, Mr J Kiereini ceased being a director,” said Unga Limited in its annual report released this week ahead of its December 5 AGM.
The miller has appointed Isabella Ocholla-Wilson to replace Mr Kemoli as chairman. Like Mr Kiereini, Mr Kemoli has in the past 18 months quit the boards of CMC Motors and EABL, but remains a director at Bamburi Cement and Kakuzi Limited.
Mr Kiereini has in the past year had to fend off allegations that he, together with former CMC chief executive Martin Forster, operated illegal offshore accounts worth more than Sh250 million.
The existence of the cash was first revealed last year by CMC’s new CEO Bill Lay, prompting a forensic audit by South African firm Weber Wentzwel commissioned by CMA — which mentioned Mr Kiereni as one of the signatories of the secret offshore accounts.
The audit report prompted the capital markets regulator to ban former CMC directors from citing on the boards of NSE-listed firms.
Besides Mr Kiereini and Mr Kemoli, the affected directors include Mr Forster, Peter Muthoka, Charles Njonjo, Sobakchand Shah, and Andrew Hamilton. Mr Joseph Kivai was only disqualified as a director of CMC Holdings.
Mr Kiereini has moved to court seeking orders to overturn a ban imposed on him by the capital markets regulator.
Mr Kiereini, who holds a diploma in administration from the University of Oxford, has been on the board of Unga Limited since 1984, CFC Holding affiliates since 1995, and joined CMC Motors in the 1970s before being ousted by other directors in March last year.
As an individual, he is a top shareholder in the companies and is regarded among Kenya’s wealthiest. He retired from public service in 1984.
Mr Kiereini teamed up with former President Moi and former Attorney-General Njonjo to make waves of acquisitions in corporate Kenya through an investment vehicle called African Liaision and Consultant Services which epitomised the close links between business and politics in the 1980’s.
He is listed as chairman of African Liaision and Consultant Services whose key investments include 30.3 per cent in CFC Life Insurance where he has a direct stake of 1.02 per cent.
Former President Moi, Mr Njonjo, and Mr Kiereini had interests in CMC Motors and CFC Holdings, which owns CFC Bank and CFC Insurance.
