John Ngumi, who is under probe for alleged involvement in controversial sale of Telkom Kenya, has resigned as Kenya Airways’ Independent non-executive director, the airline said on Friday.
Kenya Airways board of directors chairman Michael Joseph has announced the appointment of James David Kabereri as an independent non-executive director following the resignation of Mr Ngumi’s replacement. David will serve as interim director for the meantime before the annual general meeting is held.
This is Ngumi’s second high-profile resignation after he quit as Safaricom’s board chairman and director in January just after just five months in office.
His resignation comes barely three weeks after heading to court to bar the EACC and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions from prosecuting him.
Ngumi had told the board that his departure is motivated by his belief that the work of stabilising KQ is now beginning to bear fruit and it is the right time for others to come in and build on the transformational platform that the Board and Management of KQ has put in place.
His exit from the national carrier deepens the mystery for the investment banker, who has been on the radar of several anti-graft agencies, his latest appearance in public being before the National Assembly’s Finance and National Planning and the Communication, Innovation and Information committees that are jointly probing the acquisition of Telkom Kenya for Six billion.
Nevertheless, Mr Ngumi has pushed back the State after rushing to Court where he was granted orders baring his arrest and prosecution, for what he termed in court papers as the State’s resolve to pursue ex-president Uhuru Kenyatta’s cronies.
High Court Judge ruled in reference to EACC and ODPP officials after Ngumi made an application to bar them from prosecuting him that he should not be arrested or prosecuted pending the hearing and determination of the application.
Ngumi was ordered by the judge to sign an anticipatory bail of half a million and to appear at the EACC in person for questioning. It is not clear whether he honoured the directive or not.
National Assembly’s FinanceFinance and National Planning and the Communication, Innovation and Information committees are jointly investigating the acquisition of Telkom Kenya, in which Mr Ngumi is believed to have been at the centre of providing alleged bangled advisory to the Treasury.
