Elite club of CEOs counting more than 20 years in the corner office

Others are Co-op Bank’s Gideon Muriuki (24 years), Equity Group’s James Mwangi (21 years) and Cemtum’s James Mworia who is three years shy of attaining two decades in the corner office of the investment firm.

Their relatively longer tenures are due to a mix of factors, including being founders of the companies, being credited with success of the firms and a policy of not arbitrarily limiting CEO terms.

They have largely become the face of their firms and intertwined with the companies they shepherd.

But the prolonged stay continues to divide opinion amid caution that overstaying exposes the company to instability when the CEO finally exits.

A short tenure is also seen as unfavorable, denying the CEO time to execute their agenda.

Martin Oduor-Otieno, a leadership consultant and who served as chief executive of KCB Group for six years, says there is a need for balance and avoid overstaying, which could leave the company in a crisis upon the exit of the CEO.

“There is the risk of overstaying, where the person and institution become one thing and people over depend on you, such that when you exit they may not necessarily know how to move,” said Mr Oduor-Otieno, the founder of Leadership Group Limited—an advisory consultancy in leadership and governance.

“Remember the case of Sir Alex Ferguson. He stayed for too long and see what has been going on at the Manchester United since he left ... instability and generally chaos.”

Manchester United has struggled since the departure of Ferguson in 2013. The Scot won multiple titles in the 27 years he managed the club.

Mr Oduor-Otieno however cautions that a short stay denies CEOs the chance to execute their dreams at the given firm.

“Three years is too short. Because the first year is basically getting to know the organisation before getting down to work in the second. Then the third year is basically transitioning out and this sort of creates an unstable environment.”

“Anything between six and ten years is good. Beyond ten years is stretching it because you run the risk of running short on ideas.”
But despite clocking over two decades at the C-suites, none of Kenya’s long serving CEOs appears keen to call it quits. Not just yet.

Mr Bangera founded Flame Tree in 1989 and is the founding CEO. He has a majority stake of 84 percent. The company manufactures consumer goods and has presence in Dubai, Mauritius, Kenya, Mozambique, Ethiopia and Rwanda.

A UK-educated lawyer, Mr Gidoomal, has been at the helm of Car & General since 1996. He oversaw a restructuring of the firm which led to the launch of new product lines with the company now involved in automobiles, real estate, agriculture, manufacturing and financial services.

Like his peers in the class of the select few long-serving CEOs, Mr Gidoomal recently told this publication that the journey has been far from smooth.

“It has had its ups and downs for sure. It is not plain sailing. I think had we not had so many disruptions, it would have been a bit more plain sailing,” Mr Gidoomal said early last year.

Mrs Devji is the only female CEO in the list, having been at the helm of DTB in Kenya since 2001.

She left the position to become the Group CEO in October 2024, elevating her to the top of all the lender’s subsidiaries. The bank, which is an affiliate of the Aga Khan Development Network has operated in East Africa for over 75 years.

Unlike Mr Bangera, Mr Muriuki joined Co-operative Bank when the lender was drowning under massive losses amid a high rate of defaulted loans. His biggest task then was to steady the ship.

It has since grown to become one of Kenya’s biggest banks by asset size. It registered a net profit of Sh25.5 billion in the year ended December 2024.

Mr Muriuki’s ownership stake at the bank is two percent or 117.5 million shares as at December 2024, making him one of the biggest individual winners at the Nairobi Stock Exchange given the strong performance of the lender’s shares.

Mr Mwangi, who joined Equity Group in 1993 from Trade Bank Group, is the other enduring face of Kenya’s banking sector. He became the CEO in 2004 and has led the bank to become one of the most profitable and the second biggest in terms of market size in Kenya.

Equity Group, just like Co-operative Bank, has not disclosed any plans to replace Mr Mwangi. The bank looks set to keep him at the helm for the foreseeable future.

“The earliest maybe on my own volition that I would ask to retire is when I turn 75,” Mr Mwangi once told this publication.

He was born in 1962 and this means that unless things change, Mr Mwangi has at least 12 years more at the helm of Equity Group.

Mr Mwangi has a minority stake of 3.39 percent in Equity Group or 127.8 million shares as at December 2024.

The continued stay of founding CEOs has also been attributed to the fear of the unknown, especially upon their exit.

“Founder CEOs tend to feel that no one can do it better than them, and that is just human. But on the other side, there is the fear of the unknown, what if my successor does better than me or fails the company?” Mr Oduor added.

But while a select few CEOs enjoy prolonged stay at the corner offices, others have fallen victim to the tradition of frequent changes, resignations, and corruption allegations. Most have however been limited by the law.

Multinationals with subsidiaries in Kenya traditionally shuffle the CEO, to help them gain experience in diverse markets.

Rubis Kenya, which is owned by Rubis Énergie of France has had three CEOs in seven years with the latest one being Olivier Sabrié who was appointed in September 2024 to replace Jean-Christian Bergeron.

Ola Energy, which is owned by Ola of Libya, has also had a similar number of CEOs in seven years. Cyrine Draif is the current CEO having been appointed in July 2024. She previously held the same position in Cameroon.

Beverly Spencer-Obatoyinbo, is the most recent CEO in the local corporate space who resigned. She left British American Tobacco Kenya in December 2020 after serving for nearly four years.

A high turn-over of CEOs at government-owned firms is mainly linked to poor performance or corruption allegations.

For example, Kenya Power has had seven CEOs in seven years with most forced out due to allegations of corruption.

The current CEO, Joseph Siror is set to complete his first tenure of three years in May 2026 and is eligible to serve for another three years.

The law caps the tenure of CEOs in most government-owned firms in Kenya at six years, split into equal halves.
The second term is largely at the discretion of the appointing authority, in this case the Head of State.

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