John Ngumi left his position as the Safaricom Board Chair after just five months.

He had been appointed to the position effective August 1, 2022. This was just 9 days to the General Elections. Ngumi succeeded former Safaricom chief executive officer Michael Joseph.

When Safaricom announced that he would be taking over from Joseph, many observers linked his nee position to his relationship with former president Uhuru Kenyatta.

Ngumi, who was widely seen as an Uhuru ally, had previously served in multiple parastatals. For instance, Ngumi served as the chairman of the Board at the ICDC. Prior to his position at the ICDC, Ngumi was the immediate former Chairman of Kenya Pipeline Corporation Board and has chaired the Board of Konza Technopolis Development Authority.

He also served as an inaugural director on the Board of Communications Commission of Kenya, now Communications Authority of Kenya.

Days before President William Ruto was sworn in on September 13, 2022, political observers and critics had forecast that many of the appointees of former president Uhuru would be kicked out by the new Ruto administration.

“Kenya like America is a Presidential system. All appointees of President Uhuru shouldn’t wait for President William Ruto to fire and replace them…go before Tuesday. Someone like John Ngumi Chairman of Safaricom shouldn’t wait to be fired…go tomorrow!” Senior Counsel Ahmednassir Abdullahi said on September 11, 2022.

After the Ruto administration came into force, it became conspicuous that Ngumi was frequency missing key functions by Safaricom.

“Have you notice that John Ngumi the “Chairman” of the Board of Directors of Safaricom is NOT ALLOWED to attend any of its functions (awaiting his removal by the Board)? The blue eyed boy of the Uhuru regime is persona non grata in the Ruto Administration…that is life!” Ahmednassir commented on October 28, 2022 after Ngumi missed the roll-out launch of Safaricom 5G event.

In the announcement that Ngumi had left his position at Safaricom, it was claimed that he was leaving to concentrate on green energy development in Africa.

However, eyebrows have been raised as to whether Ngumi is the latest of Uhuru’s appointees to bite the dust.

The case of former Directorate of Criminal Investigations boss George Kinoti has been cited by observers as an example. When Kinoti left his position, a communication from State House indicated that he had resigned and his resignation had been accepted by President Ruto.

However, during an interview with local media on Wednesday, January 4, 2023, President Ruto said that he had actually fired Kinoti from his DCI position.

In early December 2022 when controversial businesswoman Mary Wambui was appointed as the boss of the Communications Authority, an initial statement claimed that the then CA boss Gilbert Kibe had resigned.

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However, the official gazette notice indicated that his appointment had been revoked by President Ruto.

The dropping of Ngumi is now being seen as a realignment of Safaricom – where the national government holds a 32 per cent stake – with the Ruto administration.