Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore has denied involvement in fraudulent activities by some of Safaricom employees and business partners. This follows the publication of an internal audit report that was leaked to bloggers late last week.
“I commissioned the report sometime last year to KPMG who have done our forensic reports before and had recommended some changes in our procurement system. The report was prepared to see if these recommendations were being followed,” said Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore. He further adds that the report is still a draft that was unlawfully released.
The audit report was also tabled before parliament’s finance committee on Thursday last week through a public petition lodged by a man identified as Michael Ngugi. Mr. Ngugi is seeking to have the committee launch investigations on Safaricom based on the report.
On Friday last week, controversial blogger Cyprian Nyakundi had published parts of the report and alleged that Mr. Collymore’s career was on the line, a claim the CEO of the biggest telecommunications firm in the region has denied.
The timing is very suspect and we were very surprised at the speed with which the report was tabled in Parliament and we would caution anyone from giving the report wide circulation because it is privileged and bears a heavy risk of libel on account of the names mentioned,” he said. “Fraud is a real issue but if we allow people to take confidential audit documents from companies and use them like this then it is going to be difficult to do business.”
Mr. Collymore further distanced himself from the fraud claims, noting that he was the first Kenyan CEO to declare his wealth as an act of integrity. “I stand in integrity, I was the first CEO to declare personal wealth because I believe in transparency and integrity. I do not involve myself in corrupt activities.”
