If there is one business executive who has made a lasting mark on the corporate sector in Kenya, it is the late James Mungai Gachui who passed away at a time when the country needs his calibre of unique business leadership.
James was a contemplative and balanced person with an impressive self composure and who never indulged in extremes.
He epitomised integrity, resolve and humility in business management, a very rare positive combination.
I feel confident to write about James because we spent most of our higher education time together, and also shared our early adulthood and careers in oil industry together.
His positive attributes did not just happen; they were cultivated and nurtured throughout his early life.
James has demonstrated that success in business can be cultivated to maturity through managed patience and persistence.
He has also demonstrated that it is possible to professionally grow and sustain business independent of political patronage.
The business empire he stewarded was at par with the best in the region and attracted attention across the globe.
When James left Total he jointly formed Galana Petroleum Company with overseas partners.
Galana was an international trading company with substantial interests in Madagascar. This again further exposed him to global business.
When James sold his interests in Galana around 2000, I remember him explaining to me why he was venturing into ICT through his new company Wananchi Online, an internet services provider at the time.
He explained to me that the world was going ICT and that is where future business opportunities lie.
Truly and immediately ICT exploded into a major global activity and James was in it at the right time.
I also recall James asking me to join a group of like minded potential investors by contributing about a million shillings each to form seed capital to start what is today called TransCentury.
James explained to me how individuals with little capital cannot make any impact in the business world unless they pool capital together to achieve a critical mass that could make a major market impact. Preoccupied with other projects I did not take up the offer.
What Kenyans will probably remember and learn from James most is the principle of pooling financial resources and entrusting it to professionals managers to invest.
James had the trust of his associates and TransCentury gradually and steadily made its mark in the equity capital market.
Absence of business trust and co-operation among Kenyans has historically hampered indigenous venture growth, and that is why we have a lot to learn from James Gachui.
The other lesson that James has demonstrated is that you do not have to be in the public limelight to be branded successful, because successful businesses will always speak for their successful managers.
He also demonstrated that when you become successful in business you do not necessarily have to plunge into political activity as many business executives have done with sometimes disastrous impacts on their businesses.
Mr Wachira works with Petroleum Focus Consultants.
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