It was quite obvious that the National Bank of Kenya had to be the next on the news after Uchumi Supermarkets – and in the news for all the wrong reasons!
However you look at it, the problem at the bank begins with the CEO seat and the choice of appointment that brought in the current CEO Mr. Munir Mohammed. Was this choice objective?
On one hand, the board may come out guns blazing in defense of the bank and the CEO in the face of mistreatment of staff allegations and illegal monetary dealings. But how many of these board directors are independent? How many have arrived at the conclusion that everything at National bank is honky dory independently, without selfish interests? How independent are they?
The questions though do not just end here! We must ask why a CEO can find it right to carry their entire clan to the company and, or companies they are serving. For instance, if you are a CEO or Chairman to the Board, does that elongate your call to serving ‘your people’ or serving the institution you have been elected to serve?
How can a company with such an asset base be posting mediocre results in such a booming financial Industry?? If this is answered, National Bank of Kenya will start to crawl forward. But from the Investor perspective, my expectations from National Bank of Kenya are at their lowest level at the moment.
If the government held on to Safaricom in terms of Management and Board, would we be getting the kind of value from taxes and dividends from the company as Tax payers? NSSF should give some autonomy to the companies they own or have stakes in. Further, the government must also do the same if our Public Investments are to be expected to bear fruit.
As of now cronyism is the top qualification for some of these outfits, of which National Bank is threatening to evolve into.
